


The Path Where All Things Lie

by thx4thevenombby



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: B&B AU, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Blowjobs, Horror, Light Bondage, M/M, Masturbation, Porn Watching, and nanabuki, author!Hajime, background oumasai, camboy!Nagito, dont post to other sites, hajime hates his job, hajime is a horror author, hotel au, nagito is cursed, nagito owns a B&B, shuichi is a paranormal investigator, spoooky despair ghost, tw choking, tw drug use, tw some violence, tw violent/disturbing nightmares
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:41:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 47,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22570402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thx4thevenombby/pseuds/thx4thevenombby
Summary: Hajime Hinata, a famous horror writer, has been on hiatus for two long years when his publisher sends him on vacation to a scenic bed and breakfast to help him overcome his writer's block. As Hajime grows closer with the owner, Nagito Komaeda, he begins to unravel the "curse" that has plagued the building and killed every other owner so far. While he deals with his own understandings of the paranormal during his stay, he also comes to realize there is more to Nagito than it seems.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito
Comments: 176
Kudos: 416





	1. The Crow

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys,, back at it again. I've gotten so out of practice with writing that I decided to work on this fun wip I've had sitting around. Please bear with me, I promise my writing will improve throughout the course of this fic and I'm so, so excited to get back into things!! Also, a really big thank you to Zeke, who is always my supporter for fics and is probably the main reason I ever get anything published kjsdnjn  
> Thank you for clicking and I really hope you enjoy!!

_ It’s Christmas and I’m in the ER.  _ Hajime sighed heavily, putting a hand to his bandaged head. He’d been sitting in the waiting room for nearly thirty minutes as they waited on the results of the head scan they’d ordered on him. The ER was smaller than any he’d ever been to before, and they’d only had two rooms for patients, so he’d been ushered out to the waiting room as soon as they were sure it was nothing more than a mild concussion. The scan was just to double check, but Hajime figured it was best to wait and make sure there wasn’t anything more serious wrong with him before getting back out on the road. Hajime had been driving through the current blizzard to get to his hotel room and lost control of his car on a particularly slick patch of black ice. The car was okay, save for a scratch on the side, but he’d slammed his head into the steering wheel when it happened, and the officer at the crash had insisted he’d get his head checked out. 

“Take a seat and a doctor will be with you soon.” He heard the person at the front desk say and a man with wild, white hair took a seat near Hajime. He was cradling an injured arm and staring at the wall in front of him. He suddenly looked to Hajime. The man’s eyes were wide and clear and he tilted his head for a brief moment before returning to staring at the wall. 

“What happened?” He asked, looking to Hajime’s head. Hajime wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Especially when it was an already bad day and he had a killer headache. 

“I just hit my head on accident, I’m fine.” Hajime sighed, shaking his head. The movement caused a sharp pain in his temples so he stopped abruptly. 

“I dropped a kettle on my arm.” The other man held up the bandaged arm. 

“Ouch.”

“Mm.” He nodded and hummed. “At least we’re not alone on Christmas.” He looked around the otherwise empty waiting room. 

“Er. I guess.” Hajime didn’t know how to respond and politely tell the other man that Christmas in the hospital with a stranger was not his idea of a great Christmas. “Hey, uh, are you from around here?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how far away the hotel is? Would I need to get a taxi or would I be fine walking?” They’d taken Hajime’s car to the shop and it wouldn’t be back for a while, they’d said. The other man nodded quickly. 

“It’s very close, just take a left at the end of the street. I can write the address for you.”

“You know the address?” Hajime raised an eyebrow.

“I should.” The man used his not bandaged hand to search through his pockets for a pen. “I own it.”

“Oh! You’re, uh-”

“Nagito Komaeda.” Nagito nodded, standing up and walking to the desk for a pen when his search through his pockets proved unfruitful. “Are you Hajime Hinata? We spoke on the phone.”

“Yeah I remember. You’re the only place I could get a decent extended stay at anywhere in the area.” Hajime remembered how many other hotels, motels, and B&Bs he’d called, bitterly. Nagito’s had been the only one with an extended stay and nice location. It helped that it was also the only place in the area with an opening on Christmas. The room had been a little pricey, but knowing it was a B&B in a tourist area on the ocean had told Hajime it would be, anyway. 

“Nagito Komaeda?” A voice from the desk called. Nagito stood up and retrieved a bag from the desk with some sort of medication or something in it and turned to leave. 

“See you soon, Hajime.” He smiled warmly. 

* * *

Thirty long minutes later, Hajime retrieved his scans that all said he was perfectly fine, and pulled on his coat to start the walk to Nagito’s B&B. Nagito had been right that it was a short walk, but that didn’t stop the fact that it was painfully cold and windy. Hajime’s hat and scarf had been with his luggage, which had already been sent to the hotel. He opened the door of the hotel and stepped into the warmth inside, sighing in relief. The interior of the B&B was nicely decorated and immaculately clean. Nagito was sitting at the front desk, head tilted, watching Hajime. He’d been reading until he’d felt the cold breeze of the door opening and seen Hajime tumble his way in, looking very cold. “Hajime.” He smiled. 

“Thank God I’m finally here. It’s so fucking cold outside.” Hajime was too tired and frustrated to think about holding a nice conversation. Nagito just nodded politely, looking to the whirling snow outside. 

“I’ll get your key.” Nagito turned to the wall behind him and fetched a key from it, before hesitating and putting it back. “Hajime, if you’d be interested, there’s a room with a fireplace-”

“I’ll take it.” Hajime took out his wallet to cover whatever the extra cost was. Hajime cared much more in that moment about warmth than his checkbook. Nagito walked from behind the counter with Hajime’s luggage and offered the key to Hajime with his hand that was still bandaged from his burn earlier. He shook his head and took a step back when Hajime tried to offer his credit card in return. Hajime frowned, but fortunately Nagito at least let him take his luggage back from him. 

“I’ll show you the room.” Nagito started towards the main staircase and Hajime followed. The stairs were small and steep, reminding Hajime it was a very old house. With how well kept it was, he’d almost figured it was just made to look old. 

“Do you get a lot of guests around the holidays?” Hajime asked, trying to start a conversation now that he was a little warmer. 

“No. Most people stay with their families around this time.” Nagito’s eyes widened slightly, like he’d only just realized that could sound rude and he quickly followed it with a second thought. “However, there are a few guests more than usual this year. Er, there’s a… paranormal enthusiast. And a musician who’s staying in the area, and-”

“Paranormal enthusiast?”

“Oh yes. We’re very haunted.” Nagito continued up the stairs. 

“Really?” Hajime stared at the giant portrait at the top of the stairs. Nagito nodded once again, an unreadable emotion on his face. 

“It’s an old house and a few people have died here, so it’s become a sort of…  _ attraction _ for people with interests in the occult.”

“Ah.” Hajime mumbled. He happened to know an unfortunate amount too much about ghosts, but he didn’t want Nagito to know that, so he did his best not to react obviously either way. 

“Here it is.” Nagito had led him down a long hall to one of the rooms at the very end of the hallway, using his key to open the door and let Hajime in. The room was spacious and tru to Nagito’s word, there was an ornate fireplace on one side of the room. There was a desk that overlooked a large window to the back of the B&B’s estate. “I hope that it’s alright. My number is printed by the phone if there is anything unsatisfactory. Just let me know. Well, I’ll let you get some rest, Hajime. You’ve had a long day.” 

“Thanks.” Hajime nodded, still looking around the room.  _ This is perfect.  _ He thought to himself, barely hearing Nagito as he started to leave the room. “What?” He blinked back to reality. 

“Will you want a tea service?” Nagito repeated, halfway out the door. 

“Er, what time?” 

“10 pm and 10 am.”

“Tomorrow morning, then.” 

“Ok!” Nagito smiled cheerfully and closed the door behind himself as he left. Hajime sank onto the bed, the pain in his head instantly starting to soothe a little. He turned over to look at the desk by the phone to read the little card sitting by it. Nagito’s phone number was one it, as well as breakfast times and local numbers that someone might want. Hajime sighed and sat up, reaching for his suitcase and pulling out his laptop and its charger. He took it to the desk at the window and set it up, plugging it in and waiting for it to open. As soon as it did, he clicked on a document, praying that it had somehow written itself while he’d been driving. The file opened and Hajime groaned. 

**New Book**

**Dn,sdnd,ms ,djn,sdn, write content here!!!**

So his book  _ definitely _ had not written itself for him. He shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes, the headache coming back again as he thought of the single keysmash that he had to work with for his new manuscript.  _ Ugh. I don’t even like doing this, anymore _ . 

Hajime was a popular author. He’d written his first novel under the pseudonym Izuru Kamukura and submitted it to a publishing company. It was a small, local business, but Hajime’s book took off. It skyrocketed the whole company to relative fame along with it and Hajime was offered a full time spot as their main author, having a say in all of their decisions. Since then, he’d written a handful of other best sellers and Kamukura had become a household name. All of his stories were horror novels and thrillers. He couldn’t write anything else. Hajime had never been superstitions in the least, but he’d been victim to horrible nightmares for his entire life and he’d found that writing them as soon as he woke up in the morning not only helped him remember them, but also made for good plots for most of his novels. While he never personally had an interest in what he wrote -besides getting it out of his head- the public seemed to eat it up. Hajime insisted all of his books stay under his pseudonym for a multitude of reasons and he didn’t plan on changing that in the near future. He’d been on hiatus for nearly two years now, and his publisher was ready to have his head on a plate. 

Both him and his publisher hoped that a vacation could possibly help him overcome his writer’s block and get back into the swing of being an author. Hajime was fairly sure it wouldn’t, but he wasn’t going to turn down a vacation and some time to get his publisher off his back. Not to mention, he’d always wanted to visit the town Nagito’s B&B was in. It was a somewhat famous tourist town because of its proximity to the ocean and its beautiful old buildings. He really hoped that the specific B&B he was staying in being haunted wasn’t some sort of omen that he was going to start writing again. Hajime had grown to dislike writing over the years and he was sure that the original catharsis he’d found in it was gone forever. 

Hajime shut his eyes tight, trying to get images of writing out of his head, walking back from the desk to his bed and pulling the blankets over himself. He could still hear the snow and wind howling outside, so he tugged on the blankets again, until they covered his head. Finally, Hajime Hinata was warm for the first time since his car had crashed.  _ What a way to spend Christmas. _ He thought to himself with a scowl before quickly fading into sleep. 

* * *

Hajime woke to a quiet knock at his door. He pushed the blankets off of himself, wincing at the cold air and stretched. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep with his everyday clothes still on. He straightened them out as best he could and answered the door. Nagito was waiting on the other side with a tray. “Tea.” He offered the tray to Hajime. 

“Oh yeah. Thanks, Nagito.” Hajime smiled and took the tray, before closing the door. He ran back to the door and glanced down the hallway to see Nagito only a few feet away. Nagito had looked back when he heard the door open and was standing still, watching Hajime. “Erm, when does breakfast end?”

“Fifteen minutes ago.” Nagito looked more disappointed than Hajime at having to disappoint him. 

“Oh.”

“I can still make you something if you would like.” Nagito offered without hesitation. 

“Uh. Sure. Thank you.” Hajime nodded. “I’ll, um… I’ll meet you downstairs?” He looked back to Nagito, who simply nodded with a small hum. Hajime ducked back into his room and pulled his suitcase onto his bed, digging through it for clean clothes to wear. He pulled on a new shirt and brushed his teeth, before returning to the tray Nagito had brought for him. He poured himself a cup of tea from it and added sweetener, waiting for the cup to cool down a touch before he picked it up and headed down the stairs Nagito had walked him up the day before. 

After a little looking around, Hajime found the dining room on the first floor. Hajime assumed it had once held one very large table, but it now held a handful of smaller tables, covered with immaculate tablecloths. Only the table closest to the kitchen was set.  _ Oh shit, I feel bad now. He didn’t have to like, set the table and everything. I just thought he meant like toast or whatever.  _ There was another door through the dining room and Hajime peeked through it to see a kitchen, where Nagito was standing at a stove. “Nagito?” He called over to him. Nagito perked up and looked behind himself.

“Good morning Hajime.” He smiled. “You look nice.”

“O-oh. Uh, thanks.” Hajime blinked down at the very basic outfit he’d put on to walk downstairs. “Should I…?” He gestured back to the dining room. Nagito nodded, so Hajime walked back in and took a seat at the table Nagito had set. Nagito was next to him in a few seconds, with a plate set with eggs, bacon, and french. “Oh wow, you really didn’t have to-”

“Hm?” Nagito looked confused. 

“This is a really nice breakfast.”

“You’re paying to be here.” Nagito reasoned, eyes glancing upward like the ceiling would help him understand Hajime better. Nagito straightened up and took in a breath, starting to step back towards the kitchen. 

“You can stay.” Hajime blurted out. Nagito looked back at him, a single eyebrow raised. “Er, if you want to, I mean.” Hajime’s face was growing hot, but he wasn’t sure why. “I mean, you probably have stuff to do, I didn’t mean it like that, I just meant-” He started on a long-winded sentence, but Nagito sat down quickly across from him. 

“What brings you to the area, Hajime?” Nagito laced his fingers together, leaning slightly on the table. Hajime hesitated before responding,

“Business.” 

“Ah.” Nagito frowned. “What do you do for a living, then?” Nagito asked, but Hajime took too long to answer, so he started talking again. “It must be nice to work for a company that sends you to a nice area like this for business meetings. I think if I didn’t work here, I’d love the area very much… Have you visited before?” This time, Hajime just shook his head.  _ Does that mean he doesn’t like living here, then? _ Hajime wondered as he listened to Nagito’s words. “The scenery’s very nice. So is the architecture, especially in this neighborhood. But there aren’t very many people and most visit just for skiing in the area or for short vacations. There are few locals, and even fewer locals who live here year round. It gets rather lonely up here.”

“U-um. Yeah, I bet running a hotel makes that harder.” Hajime nodded. Nagito’s eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. 

“Exactly.” He glanced around the room like he was checking for something and when he didn’t see it, he turned back to Hajime. “And I appreciate the business that all these ghost stories have brought in, but… I wish they’d be excited by something less morbid.”

“Well fortunately, I’m here for birdwatching.” Hajime laughed. Nagito cracked a smile. “You said there’s a… paranormal enthusiast staying here right now, right?” Hajime asked. 

“Mhmm.” Nagito nodded slowly. “He’s not bad. He’s very respectful and he seems to have a genuine interest in history. He was pleasant to talk to this morning at breakfast. Because it’s Christmas, only you and two other guests happen to be here. The other guest isn’t an early riser.” Nagito drummed his fingers on the table before suddenly looking up to Hajime. “Hajime, do you know of Izuru Kamukura?” His eyes were wide. 

Hajime coughed loudly, the tea he was drinking instantly hitting the back of his throat and making him cough even more.  _ Way to be inconspicuous, dumbass. _ He did his best to stop the fit and between coughs, muttered “I’ve heard of him. Why?”

“I’m a big fan of his. Shuichi told me his twitter’s been updated for the first time in a year this morning.” Nagito had a sort of wonder in his eyes that sent mixed messages to Hajime’s brain. On one hand, he was relieved that he was pretty sure he could overcome his fear of Nagito somehow predicting his pseudonym, but on the other hand, _what the hell? I didn’t post anything on Twitter today._ _What’s going on?_

“Shuichi?” Hajime worked extremely hard at keeping his voice even. 

“He’s the paranormal enthusiast staying here. He’s a fan, as well.” Nagito explained, resting his chin on his hand. 

“Shuichi as in Shuichi Saihara?” Hajime raised his eyebrows in surprise.  _ What are the odds? A famous horror writer and a famous horror TV host staying in the same hotel over Christmas.  _

“How did you know? Do you know each other?” Nagito looked excited. Hajime shook his head.

“No, not at all. I’ve seen his TV show, is all. He’s sort of a celebrity, I guess.”  _ Not really a household name, but in my line of work, he’s all over the place.  _ Shuichi Saihara was the host of a TV show that examined various horror-themed historical and myth-based ideas around the world.

“Mm. I see. You must forgive me, I rarely watch TV so I don’t really know many of the personalities these days.” Nagito looked like he was genuinely nervous that Hajime would be angry with him over not knowing a slightly obscure TV host. “We actually get many celebrities here, if you can believe it. The other woman staying here is a well-known musician who couldn’t find another hotel in the area that had vacancies. We’ve had many different celebrity stays actually. A famous pianist, a star baseball player… even a famous gymnast. It’s sort of funny that so many amazing people find their way here.” Nagito mused, eyes clouding slightly. He looked back to Hajime. “You never did tell me what you do. Are you some sort of celebrity too, Hajime?”

“Ahaha, I wish.” Hajime didn’t cough this time, fortunately. He felt a twinge of guilt at the lie, but the thought of a stranger figuring out who he was wasn’t a good thought. If Nagito found out, he’d have no way to minimize damages in the sense that Nagito could tell anyone or instantly post Hajime identity on Twitter and suddenly the whole world would know. Hajime wanted to be well-known, but he didn’t want to be  _ known _ . “Thank you for the breakfast Nagito, it was really nice. But, er, I should probably get going. I have to call me boss and tell him I got in.” He stood up, grabbing his phone and wallet off the table. Nagito watched him with a strange look, but didn’t say anything about him leaving so suddenly. Hajime thanked him again and walked up to his room as quickly as he could. 

As soon as the door was closed behind him, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through his contacts until he found Kokichi Ouma.  _ I swear to God if this fucker- _ Kokichi picked up on the first ring. “Hajime, long time no see.” Kokichi’s lilting voice was even annoying over the receiver. Hajime sucked in a careful breath, trying to contain the emotion he was feeling. 

“Kokichi?”

“That’s my name.”

“Did you hack my Twitter account and make a post on it?” Hajime asked through gritted teeth. There was silence on the other end. 

“No, it must’ve been an account error.” Kokichi offered, not sounding bothered at all. Hajime took the phone from his ear and opened the Twitter app and went to his profile, seeing the most recent Tweet reading, “Going on a trip to finish my new book. Be excited.” There was a plethora of hashtags that followed. 

“You fucking got into my Twitter account. How did you do that?  _ Why _ did you think that was okay? I don’t go through your shit.” Hajime was already getting pissed and he’d been on the phone for less than a minute. 

“Your password was orangejuice. It wasn’t hard. Besides, what harm does it even do? You  _ are _ working on a new book, why not let your fans know you’re doing something for them?” Kokichi dropped the lie that he hadn’t hacked Hajime’s account. 

“You just want me to stay relevant so you can make money off of me.” 

“Yeah?” Kokichi snorted like that was obvious. “How’s the new book coming?”  _ There’s no way he’s that stupid. He  _ knows _ he’s making me so pissed.  _

“It’s not written. Not even a single page. I just have one sentence.”

“Okay, and…?”

“It says ‘Kokichi Ouma is a fucking bastard.’” 

“You’re so funny, Hajime. This must be why you write comedy novels.” Kokichi sounded bored. “Whatever. I’ve got work to do, so call me if you have something important to say.”

“Don’t use my social media without my permission, Kokichi.” Hajime groaned as Kokichi hung up on him. 

* * *

The rest of the day went by slowly. Hajime wandered into town, but quickly grew too cold and walked back to the B&B, where he waved to Nagito at the front desk. Nagito looked up from the book he was reading and smiled warmly.  _ Well at least this place has a nice owner. I’m sure if I need suggestions of where to eat or what to do, I could ask him.  _ Hajime sighed.  _ ‘Cause honestly, I’m kinda bored.  _ As he started up the stairs, lost in thought, Hajime bumped into someone. 

The short man in front of him took a step back in surprise. “Oh! I’m sorry!” He blinked.

“You’re fine, I ran into you.” Hajime shook his head, finally looking at the young man’s face. “Shuichi-” He blurted out, eyes wide. Fortunately, he had enough sense to stop talking. Over the years, Shuichi and him had had countless Twitter discussions, e-mail conversations, and references to each other in interviews, but he’d forgotten that while he constantly saw Shuichi’s face and name, there was no way for the other boy to know who he was just by his face. “Uhm, Shuichi Saihara, right? I’ve seen your show, it’s good.” Hajime covered for himself, suddenly aware of Nagito still only being feet behind them. He didn’t necessarily care so much of Shuichi knew his real name or face, they’d built trust over the years and Shuichi wouldn’t gain much from leaking his identity, but he still didn’t know Nagito well enough for the idea to sit well with him. 

“R-really?” Shuichi immediately turned red, as if seeing his show was a rare thing and it didn’t have a regular weekly spot on a popular TV channel and streaming network. Hajime nodded. 

“Yeah. I’m excited for the next season to come out.”

“Thank you!” Shuichi was glowing. “We’re doing a special on Pepie, y’know the Lake Pepin monster, for the premier and I’m really excited. But filming doesn’t start for another month, so I’ve been taking a vacation.”

“I’ve heard of Pepie.” Nagito perked up from the desk. “Interesting choice to film an episode on her, rather than say, the Loch Ness monster.” He questioned, one eyebrow raised. Shuichi nodded excitedly.  _ This is not my turf, anymore. Ghost and vampires and shit? I know that stuff from research for my novels, but cryptids or whatever? That goes over my head.  _ Hajime had almost been persuaded (forced) by Kokichi to write a novel based around urban legends of the sort, but he’d fortunately managed to get Kokichi out of the idea before he’d been forced to actually start typing anything. 

“We’re doing it exactly for that reason. My goal is to teach my viewers about things they haven’t seen before and as interesting as it is, the Loch Ness monster is pretty well known.” Shuichi scratched the back of his head. “Oh! But it was very nice to meet you-”

“Hajime.” Hajime shook Shuichi’s hand. “See you guys.” He nodded at both Shuichi and Nagito and took the stairs back to his room. Kokichi, his publisher, was an enormous fan of Shuichi and his show. Hajime wasn’t sure how much of that was a genuine interest in the occult or an interest in Shuichi, but he didn’t care enough to find out. He’d never understood Kokichi’s obsession with the host, but seeing Shuichi in person helped him understand it slightly. Shuichi was a pretty boy to say the least and his excitement over his show had been cute, but…  _ He’s not my type.  _ Hajime was surfing through random apps on his phone, still bored.  _ What even is my type? _ He thought for a moment.  _ I honestly have no idea.  _ Hajime had never been the type to feel a strong romantic attraction. He’d had a crush on his friend Chiaki in college, but within a month of their relationship, she’d come out as lesbian and he’d realized they were better off friends. Other than Chiaki, however, he’d never really felt the need to get to know anyone too closely. Which wasn’t to say he wasn’t lonely. Hajime was  _ very _ lonely. He had friends at work that he was close with, and his family, but he as he was growing older, he was starting to feel like he was missing out by being perpetually single. He’d dated men and women after Chiaki, but never felt anything with them beyond what he felt for his close friends. Hajime had come to see relationships as friendships, but with more work, and realizing that probably wasn’t a good way to see them, he’d stopped dating. Hajime didn’t like thinking about his love life so he shook his head and continued scrolling through his phone aimlessly. 

_ I could take a walk around the building, I guess.  _ Hajime was still bored. He sighed heavily, picked himself up off his bed and walked back outside his room. Hajime stared down the hall. He knew the ground floor had more guest rooms and a handful of other rooms, as he’d seen them on his walk to breakfast, but he didn’t know what the main floor and top floor held. The span of the hallway where his room was, was almost entirely just rooms for guests, besides one room, which instead of a room number had a plaque stating it was the owner’s room.  _ So this is where Nagito sleeps.  _ Hajime continued down the hallway, passing a small staircase. He took it, hesitantly, a loud sound emerging as he continued up it. By the time he reached the top, some sort of punk music was blaring heavily. Hajime covered his ears and peeked around. There was a single room at the top with a room number.  _ This must be the honeymoon suite or something, since it’s all on its own up here. But that… doesn’t sound like lovers, that kinda sounds like hell, actually.  _ He walked back down the stairs, his ears thanking him. He remembered Nagito mentioning a musician was also staying in the hotel.  _ Ah, that must be them, then.  _ He continued back down the hallway, going the opposite way he’d gone before and finally found some rooms that weren’t just guest rooms. 

He ventured into the first room to find an upstairs living room. There were two uncomfortable looking couches and a large grand piano.  _ I wonder if Nagito plays…? _ He thought idly. There were large windows across each of the walls, overlooking the town around them. Hajime walked a bit closer to see the view. It really was gorgeous. While he wasn’t necessarily a fan of the snow and freezing winds, they were at least beautiful to watch from a distance. Hajime ducked out of the room and into the other open room, a library. The shelves were stocked with books and the light was dim, save for a single small window on the other side of the room.  _ It’s good they have all these lamps in here, otherwise it’d probably be impossible to read.  _ Hajime was happy to have found the library; he’d always been a big reader and he was fairly sure Nagito would be alright with him borrowing a handful of books. 

He took a step towards one of the shelves, coughing slightly because of the dust in the air. A small black and white book stood out among the shelves. Hajime squinted at it, but he couldn’t read the title. Hajime took another step closer to it and pulled it from the shelf. The cover simply had a picture of a bear on it. He frowned in confusion, turning to the back cover for a plot description, but there was none. 

“Shuichi was drawn to that book, too.” Nagito was suddenly behind him. Hajime jumped, nearly dropping the book. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Y-yeah.” Hajime was still rattled. Nagito’s eyes were half-lidded and there was an almost bitter expression on his face. “What is this book?”

“Do you remember when I mentioned that this building is supposed to be haunted?” Nagito looked around the room, as if ghosts would pop out of the shelves to prove his point. Hajie nodded. “That idea started three hundred years ago with that book.”

“ _ This _ book?” Hajime yelped, moving to set it back on the shelf for fear of getting cursed, himself. Even if he wasn’t superstitious, something about the dark, old room and Nagito’s sudden appearance was making him uneasy. 

“Not that specific copy.” Nagito laughed, like that had been obvious. “There are hundreds. It’s a town classic. In the early 1700s, a woman murdered multiple people in the town. She was sentenced to death and hung on this property. Here.” Nagito took the book from Hajime and flipped to a page, where there was an ink drawing of a woman’s corpse suspended from a large tree. “She swore revenge, and this property stayed empty for a very long time. In the mid 1800s, the town decided to finally put something here and this house was built. However, everyone who’s lived here has either died or left it. When my parents bought this property, the owners before them fled to a different continent to get away from it, apparently.” Nagito flipped to another drawing, this one of the B&B next to a rough sketch of its blueprints.

“But you’re not dead.” Hajime pointed out.

“Ah.” Nagito smiled ruefully. “Unfortunately, my parents seemed to take the brunt of the supposed curse. They both passed away when I was in high school.” 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, that was insensitive of me to-”

“You’re fine, Hajime. I’m not as sensitive as you might think.” Nagito shook his head. “Besides, the curse has never really seemed to take too much of an interest in me, and I figure if my guests all only stay for a little while, then maybe the curse will find a way to just leave them alone once they end their stay. Besides all that, the whole haunted hotel idea has brought me more of my business than I care to admit. I should be thankful for it.” Nagito shut the book and put it back on the shelf. “Hopefully you’ll still want to stay here after I’ve told you about how horrible it is!” Nagito said cheerily. 

“Well, I don’t have much of a choice.” Hajime reasoned. “Say, Nagito, do you know anywhere good in the area to order food from?”

“Of course. I can write down some numbers for you, if you like. I order in often.” Nagito reached for a small notepad sitting on one of the tables in the room and began jotting down restaurant names. “I know I technically cook as part of my job, but… I’ve never found any joy in doing it. And the restaurants around here are always so crowded with tourists and I’m not very close with the locals…” Nagito sighed, ripping the page off of the notepad delicately and handing it to Hajime. Nagito’s handwriting was elegant and surprisingly even, every stroke long and yet somehow small, like him. 

“Thank you.” Hajime took the paper. “Am I allowed to rent books from here?” He gestured to the shelves. 

“I’d be delighted if you did. Most of them haven’t been read in years.” Nagito took a step towards the door. “I shouldn’t be away from the desk for too long. Have a nice night, Hajime.” He waved and walked silently back down the hall. For how gangly Nagito was, he moved with surprising grace.  _ I still don’t know how someone could walk on a hardwood floor so quietly that I don’t hear him until he’s right behind me. _ Hajime looked through the shelves until he found a few short novels that looked interesting. He balanced them in one hand and turned back to the door. He stopped and gave one last glance to the black and white book Nagito had shown him.  _ Hm.  _

* * *

Hajime had ordered pizza from one of the places Nagito had recommended and finished it while watching Netflix on his laptop.  _ Kokichi would kill me if he was here.  _ Hajime laughed inwardly as he placed his plate on the nearby nightstand.  _ I’m not even  _ trying _ to write. I’m literally watching Netflix and eating pizza like I don’t have anything at all to be doing. But I guess if he hadn’t forced me into a new book, then I really wouldn’t have anything to be doing, so this is his own fault.  _ Hajime wiped his hands on one of the napkins his pizza had come with and set that on his plate as well. He felt almost guilty setting the greasy box down next to the room’s trash can, with how perfectly clean every single surface was, but  _ I don’t really have another option, so…  _ He straightened back up and returned to bed, flicking through tabs on his laptop. He double checked his Twitter, to make sure Kokichi hadn’t posted anything and scrolled through Youtube, adding videos to his Watch Later that he knew he’d never watch. 

_ Maybe Kokichi’s actually right. Maybe I’ll get so bored that I’ll actually start writing. _ He closed the tabs he had opened and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and then opened a private browser on his laptop.  _ Wow. Pizza, Netflix, and porn, this is like college all over again.  _ Hajime thought dryly, opening up a porn site. He browsed through a few random tags, not feeling particularly attached to any specific video until one with a simple number title caught his eyes. He clicked it and waited for it to load, double checking he was using earbuds. 

The video started with a zoom in of a man’s torso. His thinness was visible, even in the low light of the video and the milky pale tint of his skin almost made him glow in the same lighting. Another man came into the camera’s view, a hand tracing down the other’s stomach and chest before eventually resting on his hip bone. This brought an eager hip roll from him, but the man just applied more pressure, keeping him in place. Hajime sucked in a breath. It was rare he found the people in porn attractive, much less anyone. He was usually there just to find whatever he was in the mood for that night and forget them immediately after. However, despite the video being a fairly bland homemade porn with a shitty camera and not even any faces or details being visible, Hajime found himself staying on the video just out of attraction. 

The two men had started to fuck and after a loud moan from the first man, a hand was thrown over his mouth. Hajime unzipped his pants and started to reach into them-

_ Knock! Knock! Knock! _ Hajime jumped, slamming his phone down on the bed and zipping his pants up quickly. “Hello?”

“Hajime? I have your ten pm tea service.” Nagito said through the door. “I can leave it outside your door.” He offered. 

“U-uh yeah. That’d be great. Thanks Nagito.”

“Goodnight, Hajime.” He could hear Nagito set down the tray and walk back down the hallway. Hajime breathed out a sigh of relief.  _ God that really was like college. I felt like my roommate was about to walk in on me. I guess if Nagito was my roommate. I can’t really see that. _ Hajime’s mind wandered to Nagito. He picked his phone back up, staring at the frozen scene on the screen. One of the man’s delicate wrists was hovering over the arm being held over his mouth, long fingers sprawled out across the other man’s skin.  _ Nagito’s kinda built like that, isn’t he? _ Hajime noticed, eyes darting to the door like Nagito would magically appear there.  _ Long. Thin. Delicate.  _ For a brief moment, Hajime imagined Nagito head on the faceless man in the video and he opened his eyes wide at the reaction it elicited from him.  _ I like that? I like… Nagito? _ He shook his head, running a hand through his hair.  _ No. I’m just horny and he happened to be the poor person who had to talk to me while I have a boner.  _ Hajime turned off his phone, suddenly not in the mood anymore and stood up. He opened the door quietly and retrieved the tea from outside, bringing it in with him. He set it on the nightstand next to his bed and picked out one of the books he’d borrowed from Nagito, adjusting his pillows into a position that would be comfortable for sitting and reading. He took a sip of the tea Nagito had provided and sighed.  _ I guess this is all pretty relaxing, huh? _

* * *

He managed to wake up before Nagito’s tea service the next morning and thanked him for it when it arrived. He got dressed, sat at his computer and stared at the blank document on his desktop a little while longer. His sleep had been dreamless, which meant no ideas and no ideas meant no writing. Hajime had hoped and prayed that one day he wouldn’t need to be stricken with some random dream to write a novel, but he was fairly sure that he couldn’t change it. 

The wind was howling loudly outside and Hajime could see a copious amount of snow hitting the screens every few seconds.  _ Thank God I don’t have to go outside today.  _ He got dressed quickly and picked up one of the books he’d borrowed from Nagito, tucking it under his arm. He headed down the hallway to the music room he’d found the day before. Even if he felt lethargic, he still wanted to at least get out of bed, and he thought the room had been well lit and quiet enough to be a good reading spot. It wasn’t until Hajime was halfway into the room that he realized Nagito was sitting on one of the window seats with a book, himself. “Nagito?”

“Hm?” Nagito looked up, like he was surprised to see Hajime there. “Forgive me, Hajime, I didn’t hear you.”

“Cold?” Hajime gestured to the two sweaters and winter scarf wrapped around Nagito’s thin frame. 

“I get cold easily. There’s so many windows in this room that it’s the coldest in the house. Especially on a day like this.” Hajime took a seat on the opposite side of the window seat from Nagito. The white haired man was watching the snowfall with a peaceful expression, a thin smile playing on his lips. “There was a road warning, so we’re technically closed today. I get a day away from the desk.” Nagito brought his knees to his chest and finally turned away from the window to watch Hajime. His expression didn’t change. “I hope you didn’t have travel plans today, Hajime.”

“No, luckily. I’m not sure when I’m leaving, yet. It’s up to my boss.” Hajime frowned down at his book. 

“Hajime, are you a businessman?”

“What? No?” Hajime’s frown deepened in confusion. 

“A lawyer?” Nagito was met with another shrug. “Stock broker?” He narrowed his eyes. “Accountant?”

“All of those are kind of offensive assumptions. People usually think I’m a professor or something a little more interesting.” He laughed. 

“Well what are you?” Nagito leaned closer to him. Hajime hesitated.  _ How much to tell? _

“Erm, it’s complicated. But I guess I’d call myself a writer.”

“Ah! How exciting!” Nagito clapped his hands together. “What do you write about?”

“Er… I write law books. Like legal analysis, that sort of thing.” Hajime had technically written those sorts of books, so it wasn’t a complete lie. He’d gone to college pre-law and during his short stint with grad school, he’d been published with a few legal papers. Nagito’s face fell. “Not as exciting as it sounds, I know.”

“Yeah.” Nagito looked genuinely sad.  _ Jeez. Okay, I was expecting him to at least say it wasn’t that bad.  _ “I suppose I run a hotel, so I shouldn’t talk.” He inspected his nails.  _ Exactly.  _ Hajime frowned. “I thought for sure you’d have some sort of strange secret, Hajime.”

“Why?” Hajime asked after a pause.

“You just seem the type.” Nagito looked at him from the corners of his eyes. “Well, if you write law papers, could I ask you a favor?”

“Er, sure.” Hajime started to sweat. He hadn’t done law in years. “What do you need help with?” Hajime put his book down and watched Nagito struggle for a moment with a description. 

“I’m not entirely sure. There’s some sort of issue with my deed for this hotel and I’m not much of a legal person and I’d like to avoid the trouble of hiring a lawyer, if possible. My father handled most of this before his passing, but now that he’s gone, I’ve done my best to ignore it-”

“You… you can’t just ignore legal issues. Trust me, I’m a writer.” Hajime blinked. Nagito shrugged simply. “U-um, I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll do my best. What’s the exact error with the deed?” As Hajime continued talking, Nagito rose to his feet happily. 

“Thank you Hajime! I’ll show you the office, I have the paperwork there.” Nagito made his way out of the room and down the stairs. Hajime followed him into a room near the front desk, that was lined with binders and books and Hajime wondered just how many books Nagito owned. “It’s amazing how even a boring talent like law can be so useful!”

“Hey, if you’re rude I won’t help.”

“I was rude?” Nagito tilted his head, seeming genuine. “You must forgive me, Hajime, I’m not very good at talking to people.” He continued cheerily and pulled manila folder out. “I don’t know what ‘unknown liens’ are, but a company keeps contacting me about them.” Nagito handed the folder to Hajime. 

“You probably could’ve Googled this.” Hajime raised an eyebrow. 

“I know.” Nagito nodded. “I’ve procrastinated with all my other responsibilities. I’m the only permanent employee of the hotel and I’m not very adept at most of the things I do, so it can take a long time for me to-”

“It’s okay, here. I can help with this.” Hajime stood next to Nagito and flipped through the folder. “It means that a previous owner made a mistake in paperwork or billing information before you took over, but this company has now processed that error and is trying to get the money from the estate, but it’s not actually your debt, so you don’t have to pay it, I don’t think.” Hajime continued scanning the page. “Oh, wait… Did you inherit this place from your parents?”

“Yes.”

“Were you their sole heir?”

“Yes.”

“Then you do have to pay. You inherited the money and hotel, but along with it, the debt. This just happens to be a debt that was processed very late and so it’s only coming back to you, now.”

“Ah, I understand. What should I do, then?”

“Explain to the company that you’re the current owner of the estate and send the money. If they keep bothering you, then it would be worth it to hire a lawyer.” Hajime handed the papers back to Nagito. “Are you really the only employee?” The words finally processed in Hajime’s brain.

“Mhmm. I only wish someone with a genuine talent and interest in the business could do it.” A glazed over look took Nagito’s eyes and he stared slightly to Hajime’s side. “But I’m very grateful for the hotel. My parents were very fond of it… I’m glad to keep it running.” The look on Nagito’s face didn’t seem very fond, but Hajime decided not to push the subject. “It’s been very difficult since they passed.”

“Nagito, do you, uh… do you have plans for dinner?” Hajime said without thinking. Nagito’s eyes regained their clarity and he met Hajime’s gaze. 

“I have a wonderful instant soup that I make most nights. It’s especially lovely because it’s microwaveable, so I don’t have to cook any more than necessary-” 

“You really hate cooking that much?”

“Yes.” Nagito nodded quickly. 

“I like it.” Hajime shrugged. “If you have food, I’ll cook it as long as I get some. I feel too guilty to order in tonight, because of the weather. Do you have-”

“No! Hajime, I can’t have a customer cooking their own food, that’s absolutely dreadful service. My mother is rolling in her grave at the thought, I think.” Nagito’s eyes were wide. 

“Why? I like it. It’s fun. Besides, using the stove will help keep the kitchen warm.” Hajime watched Nagito’s expressions changing constantly. “I’ll make something easy so it doesn’t take long, how about that?” 

“O-okay, if Hajime’s sure.” Nagito was chewing on his lip nervously. Hajime walked to the kitchen and looked through the cupboards, feeling Nagito’s eyes on his back. 

“Any allergies?”

“No, but I don’t like bell peppers.”

“Why not?”

“They’re too sweet.” Nagito wrinkled his nose in disgust. 

“Weak.” Hajime snorted, pulling out a box of pasta and a few various ingredients.

“You’re correct, I’m very weak. My parents used to say I was ‘sickly.’” Nagito nodded his agreement. Hajime didn’t waste the energy trying to explain to Nagito that it was a figure of speech. “If you make an exclusively pepper dish, I understand.” Nagito said seriously.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing, Nagito. I’m mixing the giant bowl of peppers right now. I’m going to make you eat fifty bell peppers. If you don’t, I’ll leave a bad Yelp review of this place.” Hajime replied absently as he dug through the bottom drawer for the right saucepan. 

“Oh please don’t do that.” Nagito looked genuinely scared. 

“I-I won’t. I was just being sarcastic, sorry.” Hajime shook his head.  _ I feel kinda mean being sarcastic to him.  _ He started the stove and put on a pan with butter and garlic and a pot to boil the pasta in. “I never get to cook for two people, anymore.” Hajime lamented as he looked around for a spoon. “I had a roommate for all of college. His name was Gundham, he was vegan, so I had to get creative with recipes, sometimes. But it was fun. I still see him a lot, we, uh… work together, but it’s not the same as having someone live with me.”

“You don’t have a wife?” Nagito sounded surprised.

“If I did, I wouldn’t be alone here, would I?” Hajime looked back at Nagito. “My only serious relationship ended a long time ago and I haven’t been one for dating since then.” The noodles were starting to soften up, so Hajime lowered the heat slightly. He was making a cream sauce on the other side of the stove, carefully adding milk to avoid clumps. Nagito watched as if it was some sort of magic trick. “You?”

“Oh…” Nagito thought for a long time, unsure of how to answer. “I’ve been told I’m not the right type to date.”

“What does that mean?”

“I was hoping you would know.” Nagito sounded slightly bitter. 

“You seem like a nice guy, you probably just haven’t met the right lady yet.” Hajime offered, cutting up a chicken breast he’d found in the fridge. 

“Ah?” Nagito laughed lightly. It was a pretty sound. “It would be hard to meet the right lady when I’m not looking for her, I think.”

“Huh?” Hajime blinked. “Oh.  _ Oh _ . I’m sorry, I should’ve… yeah.” Hajime sighed at his own inability to speak and continued chopping the chicken breast. “Do you have, like, Panko or anything like that?” He asked. Nagito nodded and retrieved it, handing the box to Hajime. “Thanks.”

“What are you making, Hajime?” He peeked over his shoulder. 

“Just chicken and pasta.” Hajime shrugged. “No peppers, I promise.” He leaned back from the stove to prove it to Nagito. Nagito giggled again. He leaned even closer. 

“It smells good.”  _ I never realized how long his eyelashes are.  _ Hajime was suddenly very close to Nagito’s face.  _ They’re so light that they’re easy to miss. Especially when his eyes are so big- _ “Hajime?”

“Huh?”

“What sort of legal matters are so interesting here that your boss sent you here?” Nagito had moved back behind Hajime and taken a spot sitting on the counter.  _ It’s much easier to talk to Hajime like this. We don’t have to face each other.  _

“Er, I’ve been sort of… ruining his life lately. Or at least that’s what he says. I’m the primary earning author at my publishing company and I’ve been pretty absent from writing. He thought sending me here would help with the process, I guess.” Hajime was listening to the sounds of the chicken as he pan fried it.  _ Not as nice as Nagito’s laugh, but still a nice sound.  _ “He’d kill me if he knew Shuichi was here. He’s a big fan.”

“You’re not going to tell him?” Nagito wondered out loud. 

“Fuck no. He’s always a pain in my ass, I’m not letting him know I met his celebrity crush. Besides, he’d ask for a selfie or something embarrassing like that.” Hajime took the sauce off the heat and poured the strained pasta into it, mixing it as best as he could. “What book were you reading upstairs?” 

“ _ All Good Things _ by Izuru Kamukura.”

“R-really?” Hajime blinked quickly, trying to not let his posture change. “Do you like it?”

“Mhm, very much. It’s my third time reading it.” Nagito glanced at the cover of the book, which was still sitting at his side.  _ I can’t even reread my own stuff long enough to proofread it, I have no idea how he got through that book three times.  _ Hajime swallowed. “I’m surprised you haven’t read more Kamukura, considering you’re an author. He’s supposed to be a new classic.”

“Er, yeah. I’ve heard that. I’m just not much of a fiction person, I guess. What’s your favorite of his?”  _ Well I might as well get an ego trip while I’m here, I guess.  _

“ _ Farewell to Future. _ ”  _ My most unpopular book? Really? _ “There’s the horror, of course, but at it’s core, it’s a story of man using whatever means necessary to become something greater than himself. What a beautiful plot.” Nagito almost sounded dreamy about it. “I’d recommend it, but-”

“I’ve heard it can be a bit much for people.” Hajime offered.  _ Yeah. It’s my goriest book. It ends with the main character literally turning inside out. Kokichi warned me no one would read it and he was right if you’re looking at how it sold, but I guess Nagito Komaeda’s not one to follow trends.  _ Nagito nodded. “Dinner’s ready.” Hajime had scooped the pasta onto two plates and put the chicken on top of it. 

“Thank you again, Hajime. I really don’t know how to repay you.” Nagito’s eyes were glistening. 

“It’s just dinner.” He shook his head and sat down at one of the tables with Nagito. Hajime was starving, so he started eating immediately.  _ Eh. It’s okay. I could do better, but I felt bad using too many ingredients and I thought a complicated dinner would just make Nagito feel worse. _ After Hajime started eating, Nagito took a small bite and his face instantly lit up. 

“Hajime! This is delicious!” He smiled, staring at the food in front of him. 

“Really? It wasn’t hard, I can give you the recipe.” Hajime wasn’t used to people getting excited about his food. Gundham had been a tough critic and he wasn’t used to cooking for people besides himself. Nagito shook his head.

“I’m dreadful, Hajime. I’d find some way to ruin even your amazing recipe.”

“Well then I could cook it for you again sometime.” Hajime offered.  _ That would at least give me something to do besides read and jerk off.  _ Nagito’s face lit up, like there was a visible aura of excitement around him.

“Really?” His eyes sparkled.

“Well, I still don’t know how long I’ll be here, so probably a pretty long time. And I don’t have much to do around here, so it’d be nice to cook for someone. I enjoy it, at least.” They ate together, chatting and enjoying each other’s company until it had grown dark outside.

Hajime heard footsteps approaching the dining room and both him and Nagito looked up in time to see Shuichi enter the room. “Shuichi?”

“Is everything alright?” Nagito chimed in at the same time. Shuichi nodded, scratching his neck.

“Yeah! Everything’s totally fine. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry anyone. Um, I just was having some trouble sleeping so I came down to get a bit of air and I saw the light on, so I peeked in.” Shuichi sat down in the chair next to Hajime. Hajime had never seen Shuichi without the makeup and he’d mostly never realized it was there until he saw Shuichi without his trademark dark lashline and lashes. 

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Nagito asked, leaning his chin on his hand. Shuichi hesitated.

“Erm, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but the person next door to me was being a little loud-“ As Shuichi spoke, Hajime and Nagito exchanged glances with each other. “What?” Shuichi noticed.

“There’s no one else staying on your side of the building. Hajime’s on the other end of the hall, I’m on this floor, and the only other guest is staying on the top floor. No one should have been in there.” Nagito was speaking quickly. Shuichi froze. 

“W-what?” Shuichi mumbled, face somehow growing even paler.  _ For someone who hunts ghosts or whatever, he sure seems pretty scared _ . Hajime laughed a little in his head. 

“I should go check the room.” Nagito stood up. “In case someone broke in.” Hajime stood up, too, steadying himself with a hand on the table.

“Er, I’ll come with.” A single look at Nagio told Hajime he wouldn’t last in an encounter with an intruder. 

“Well I don’t wanna be all alone down here.” Shuichi stood up with them. 

“I’ll get a key for the room.” Nagito’s voice sounded almost excited. He was gone for a moment and came back with a key in hand. The three men made their way up the stairs and walked down towards the library and reading room. The last door, closest to the library was where Shuichi mumbled that the sound had been coming from. Nagito unlocked the door quietly and slowly pushed the door open. 

Strong wind outside beat against the house and Shuichi jumped at the sound. “It’s okay.” Hajime muttered. “Here, let me.” He stepped in front of Nagito and glanced into the room. “Hello? Is there anyone there?” No answer. Hajime took a nervous breath and took another step into the room, now able to see better. There was a loud crash and Hajime jumped, looking around the room wildly. When he spotted the source of the noise, his shoulders sagged with relief. 

“It’s just a piece of the gutter, guys.” He motioned Nagito and Shuichi into the room and pointed out the window. Within a few seconds, another strong gust of wind brought another crash and the corner of the gutter dropped down, hitting the window and making the whole room shake. “That’s probably what Shuichi heard.”

“That’s very troubling; I’ll need to get that fixed.” Nagito blinked at it. “The snow must have made it too heavy.”

“That can happen. Especially in an old house.” Hajime nodded his agreement. 

“I had the whole house renovated a few years ago. I must have forgotten the gutters.” Nagito’s mouth was pressed in a thin line.  _ He’s more stressed about this than he was about the idea of a burglar. What a weird guy.  _

* * *

After that, everyone had split ways. Shuichi to his room, Nagito to clean up the plates they left downstairs, and Hajime to his own room. He felt bad about leaving all the dishes to Nagito, but the taller man had insisted on doing them and rushed off.  _ Alright. Whatever floats his boat, I guess.  _ Hajime figured. 

He laid down on his bed and pulled out his phone, finding himself once again turning to porn. Hajime searched through his most recently watched videos, finding the one from earlier that he’d been watching when Nagito had knocked at his door and he had been forced to stop. He clicked on the author of the video and scrolled through their other videos. All of them were low quality, neck-down shots of the same man from before, with varying other men. Hajime selected the most recent one and put in his earbuds. As the video loaded, he scrolled through the comments.  **Why was this filmed on a microwave?** made him laugh, but all the rest were simple porn comments that were mostly gibberish with a few sex words thrown in. He scrolled back to the video and started watching. 

The slender man from the other video was already panting on the bed when it started, scratching at the pale skin on his chest. The man holding the camera stopped him. “More?” He asked. There was a faint movement at the top of the screen, like he’d nodded, but the man holding the camera pushed farther. “Say yes.”

“Y-yes.” It was a stuttered and urgent reply. They exchanged a few more words, but Hajime couldn’t make them out because the mic was muffled and neither of their mouths were on screen to help with lip reading. The man with the camera pushed into the thin man without much of a warning. It was pretty clear they had already been having sex when they’d started the camera. Hajime shifted his pants down, jerking off in time with the video. Within a few minutes, the man being filmed was writhing on the bed, hands gripping at the sheets and chest heaving. 

The man filming mumbled a question, but all Hajime could make out of it was, “... already close?” There was vigorous nodding from the other man. The man filming picked up his pace, fucking into the other man, whose whimpers grew loud enough for the microphone to pick up. They suddenly stopped when the man with the camera wrapped a hand around his neck and squeezed. There was a sudden shudder from the man and Hajime started moving his hand faster, only able to focus on the video in front of him. The man being choked came quickly, hands wrapping around the hand around his neck and squeezing until his knuckles turned white. He went slack and the man let go, pulling the other man’s legs closer to him and finishing, himself. Hajime sucked in a breath and leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing a t shirt he’d already worn and came into it, breathing heavily as his body felt lighter. The man in the video had rolled on his side, still breathing hard. Hajime paused the video, catching how the light green sheets displayed the distorted shadow of the man. His eyes traced the outline of his back, taking in the soft curve of it and-

_ Ring. Ring- _

Hajime cursed out loud.  _ I swear to God that the only curse in this place is the curse that won’t let me jack off in peace.  _ “Hello?” Hajime answered the phone. 

“Hey. It’s Kokichi.” Kokichi’s voice came through the phone and Hajime resisted the urge to curse out loud again. 

“Again?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m your publisher, it’s kinda my job to nag you about this stuff.” Kokichi reminded him. “Anyway… You got another movie deal. You’ve got a month to think on it, apparently. And-” Kokichi sucked in a breath. “ _ Please _ don’t turn down this one.” He winced. 

“For which book?” Hajime asked, just to entertain Kokichi. He had no plans of letting a movie happen, at least not yet. The only books he’d written that he’d ever imagined as films were his least popular titles that weren’t often sought out by major companies. 

“ _ All Good Things. _ Does the book even change your decision?” 

“Not this one, no.”

“Just think about it, at least?”

“Sure. Goodnight.” Hajime hung up without waiting for an answer.  _ All Good Things _ was the book Nagito had been reading earlier.  _ Maybe I’ll ask him if he’d like to see a film of it. Would that be too obvious? Besides, why do I even care if he would, it’s not like I would want to, and it’s  _ my _ book.  _ He put his phone on his nightstand and pulled the covers over himself, turning on his side to watch the snow falling peacefully out the window. He drifted to sleep slowly, the weight of the blanket helping him grow tired. 

* * *

Hajime woke up the next morning and stretched slowly. He glanced at the clock: 10:43 am.  _ Shit, I must’ve missed tea service. Sorry Nagito. _ Hajime pulled a sweatshirt on, brushed his teeth and opened the door to retrieve the tray, but there was none.  _ Huh.  _ He frowned.  _ Maybe he realized I was asleep, I guess?  _

A loud sound, similar to the one Shuichi had heard the other day, rang through the hotel, startling Hajime. He waited a few moments and it happened again, yet he heard no other movement in the hall.  _ Nagito had to have heard that. He was so worried about it last time, I can’t believe he would ignore it this time. Maybe… maybe I should check on him.  _ Hajime started down the hallway, the sound continuing and echoing more with each door that Hajime passed. Hajime put a hand to his head, feeling a headache coming on and grimaced. 

The sound grew the loudest at the end of the hall, near the library and the music room. He knocked on Shuichi’s door, but there was no answer. He took a hesitant step towards the door, feeling a sudden uneasiness that stopped him from peeking around it. The headache he’d felt forming had quickly turned into a pounding ache in his skull that flared with every bang from the library. Hajime was growing dizzy, but he shook his head and grabbed onto the side of the door, leaning on it to walk into the library. “Nagito?” He instinctively called out, but once again, there was no answer. 

The single, small window at the other end of the room was full of a dark shape. A large, black bird with red eyes was banging itself against the window with an incredible strength, creating the noise Hajime kept hearing. The moment he saw it, something like ice flooded his senses and he desperately tried to catch the breath that froze in his chest. Hajime stumbled backwards, tripping on something and falling onto the hard ground. A thin crack appeared in the glass where the bird was hitting and Hajime somehow knew that if that  _ thing _ were to get inside, it would kill him. He crawled backwards, finally catching sight of what he’d tripped on. Hajime gagged, arms shaking as he tried to hold himself up. 

Nagito was sprawled on the floor, half crushed beneath a fallen bookshelf. Hajime had stumbled over his bloody arm. He rushed closer to Nagito, momentarily forgetting whatever was in the window. “Nagito, Nagito, wake up! We have to hide!” He tried to shake the still figure, but his thin body was like a rag doll. “Fuck!” Hajime cried out. Nagito blinked slowly, his arm barely twitching.  _ Oh thank God.  _ Hajime used all of his strength to pull Nagito from under the shelf. He glanced to the window, but the bird was gone, replaced with a startling brightness outside. “Nagito?” Hajime put a hand to his cheek as he finished regaining consciousness. Nagito sat upright, his eyes glowing the same red as the bird. He smiled widely at Hajime, tilting his head.

“Hajime?” He said his name slowly. “There’s someone in the hallway.”

* * *

Hajime bolted up in his bed, grasping at the sheets with wide eyes. His back was drenched in sweat and he could feel his chest heaving, swaying his whole body.  _ Oh God Nagito, is he okay? _ He threw on a sweatshirt and stumbled into the hall, running to the top of the stairs and looking down, sighing in relief when he saw Nagito rifling through a book peacefully at his desk. Hajime walked back to his room and collapsed onto the chair in front of his desk. He turned on his laptop and pulled it closer to him, opening the blank document and typing in the dream he’d had. 

He wrote quickly, to make sure he didn’t forget any of it. Though, it was hard to forget. Perhaps the singular good thing about his writing career was the fact that it made him excited for his nightmares, rather than scared. His nightmares had plagued him for as long as he could remember, and he’d always hated facing the terrifying truth that they might actually mean something darker and deeper about him. But they’d become nothing more than fodder for his writing career, taking away their sharp edges and malicious glints. 

Hajime sighed, pushing his hair away from his face and rewriting parts of the nightmare to make it less personalized. Kokichi always reminded him to make his novels palatable to a wider audience.  _ Speaking of the little shit.  _ Hajime scowled and pulled his phone from his pocket, pulling up Kokichi’s contact and texting him. 

**Hajime: Good news.**

**Kokichi: I could use some :/**

**Hajime: I had a nightmare. Got an idea for a new novel, working on it now. Themed on the place I’m staying, I think.**

Hajime leaned back in his chair, a sudden thought coming to his head.  _ Kokichi! _ His eyes went wide.  _ That weirdo totally knew this place was haunted when he sent me here. Does he ever do anything that’s  _ not _ some sort of weird mental game? _ Hajime didn’t waste any time reading Kokichi’s excited texts, he simply got to work on his new novel, typing as fast as his fingers would let him. 

He had all sorts of ideas that he wasn’t sure how to tie together, but he knew he wanted them. A haunted hotel, drenched in snow and ice, an inescapable blizzard that forces a group of strangers to work together until it becomes clear that one of them is something more -or less- than human. Hajime hadn’t realized how early his nightmare had woken him until a few hours later, he was interrupted by Nagito knocking on his door with the 10 am tea service. “Hello Nagito! You can come in!” Hajime called back to him. 

Nagito entered the room slowly with the tea tray and looked around until his eyes fell on Hajime. “Ah! Hajime, you sound happy.” He paused a quick moment, eyes dropping Hajime’s gaze. “It’s nice to hear.” There was almost a smile on his lips. 

“Yeah! I just got some exciting news about work is all. How are you doing?”

“Oh, that’s of no importance.” Nagito smiled like that was a remotely normal thing to say. “How long have you been up?” Nagito seemed surprised to see Hajime awake and alert for his morning tea service for once. 

“No idea, to be honest. I think I woke up a few hours ago. I had a nightmare and couldn’t fall back asleep.” Hajime scratched his neck nervously when he realized what he’d said. He very rarely told people about his nightmares. Hajime was slightly embarrassed about how much they affected him and they felt like something so intimate to himself that he had only ever shared them when it was necessary for his work. Nagito’s face paled. 

“A-ah, if I… if the hotel was…  _ loud _ last night and… affected your sleep, I apologize deeply, Hajime.”  _ Loud? I don’t remember hearing anything last night... _

“No, no, it wasn’t anything here, really.” Hajime shook his head vigorously. “I’ve always had them. It’s no big deal.”

“Well, Hajime… I know my company may be more of a curse than a blessing, but if you are ever unable to sleep because of them, I’m always available at night.” Nagito spoke with such an earnest voice that Hajime knew he wouldn’t have the heart to turn him down, but a thought was pricking at his mind.  _ Is… is he being even more self-deprecating than normal? Did something happen last night? _

“Er, sure, Nagito. Thank you.” 

“Mm. I’ll see you.” Nagito set the tray down on the far end of the desk and left with a quick wave. Hajime watched him leave and returned to the laptop at his desk, typing away.

* * *

After Hajime, Nagito just had Shuichi left for tea service. Ibuki had turned it down, since she’d known she wouldn’t be up by ten am every morning. He chatted quickly with Shuichi before heading back to his own room. Now that he’d checked on Hajime and Shuichi, and knew Ibuki wouldn’t be awake for a few more hours, Nagito could have a few moments in his room. He treasured the moments he had in his room; his few times completely alone. He rubbed at his neck, wincing slightly when he hit one of the bruises near his collarbone. He glanced towards the mirror and pulled his shirt down to reveal many more dark marks on his skin. He sighed and let his shirt go back up, staring disdainfully at the pile of dirty laundry in his basket. He’d redone his sheets the night before, but he’d been too tired to actually wash them and his clothes from that night. 

Nagito reached for the laundry, accidentally exposing yet another mark on his wrist. He shrugged on a sweater over his shirt to cover more of his skin and continued with his laundry, folding it all neatly into his basket and retreating into his laundry room to start a load. He’d turned a handful of rooms into a suite for himself, so that he wouldn’t have to leave to run his own laundry or do his own cooking.  _ It would be rather rude for me to disturb my guests with such displays of my own domesticity.  _ He sucked in a breath. 

As the laundry cycled through, Nagito stared at it, mind travelling elsewhere.  _ I still don’t know how the gutter in Shuichi’s room could have fallen like that.  _ He was chewing on his lip, making the already chapped skin start to bleed.  _ I’ve had that entire side of the building renovated. I’m up to date on inspections. Since the accident, I’ve always taken care of-  _ Nagito’s phone made a sound and he was pulled from his thoughts. It was a text from the man he’d had over the night before. He put his phone back in his pocket; he had no need for him, anymore. 

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Shuichi needed directions to a drug store, Ibuki wanted his advice on a new riff, and his laundry was finally done. However, Hajime had been strangely quiet all day. Nagito usually caught sight of him roaming the building when he was bored, or even ran into him at the front desk. He was fairly sure Hajime had spent the entire day in his room.  _ He did say he was writing.  _ Nagito’s eyes sparkled at the thought.  _ How committed… he must truly love what he does… Just like Ibuki and Shuichi, no -even better, somehow.  _

He found his way to the kitchen and searched through the cupboards for a can of soup. Nagito watched the soup simmer with a fascinated gaze.  _ It’s a shame he writes textbooks. Or law books. I can’t remember. He seems so interesting, you’d think he would do something more…  _ Nagito sighed and poured the soup into a bowl, beginning to make a sandwich, as well. When it was finished, he put them both on one of the tea trays and started up the stairs. When he got to the top, he knocked lightly on Hajime’s door. There was no reply. He knocked again. 

“Hello?” Hajime called back.

“It’s Nagito.”

“Oh, come in.” Nagito used his spare key to unlock the door and walked in. Hajime was sitting in the same position at his desk, laptop open to a doc.

“You haven’t left your room.” Nagito blinked at the doc. It was structured with paragraph breaks around dialogue.  _ Why would a legal book have dialogue?  _ He wondered briefly but shook the thought from his head. 

“You pay attention to that?” Hajime looked almost embarrassed. Nagito looked away quickly. 

“Not typically. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. There are only three guests staying here so it’s difficult for me not to notice who’s coming and going.” Nagito set the tray down. “If I offended you, I apologize.”

“You’re fine. Sorry.” Hajime shook his head, shutting the screen of his laptop. “I know B&Bs are more personal than hotels, I just forgot that, I guess.”

“Do you normally stay in hotels?”

“Yeah. I’m a private person and there’s… there’s a certain anonymity to chain hotels, I think.” Hajime blinked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with this set up, either! I just meant I don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of a stay, so I’m sorry if I’m overly introverted.” He shrugged. 

“You can do anything you want to, Hajime. You don’t need to think of my comfort for your stay.” Nagito frowned. _Why would it matter if he doesn’t talk to me?_ He’s _the guest. Perhaps he’s hinting that I invade his space too much?_ _I’ll leave him be then._ “I brought you dinner in case you hadn’t eaten.” Nagito pointed to the tray. 

“You didn’t have to do that.” Hajime’s eyes went wide. 

“I’m sorry.”

“No,  _ no _ , that’s really nice. Thanks, Nagito. I hadn’t even noticed I was hungry.” Hajime smiled and Nagito felt something in his heart that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It made him nervous. 

“Goodbye Hajime!” He bolted out the door. 

  
  


* * *

After Nagito’s abrupt exit, Hajime ate the food he brought and turned back to his laptop. He stared at it without opening it for a bit, taking in a feeling he had almost forgotten.  _ Twenty pages.  _ He cracked his knuckles.  _ I wrote twenty full pages of a novel for the first time in years. I wrote something new and something I’m actually excited for. What the fuck. _ It was almost a grin that was stuck to his face.  _ I should text Kokichi.  _ He sat up straighter, eyes catching the tray he’d just finished eating off of.  _ I should say thanks to Nagito first. Besides, I’m in a good mood and he’d be more fun to be around than Kokichi. Besides, he seemed kinda lonely earlier. _

Hajime rinsed out the dishes as best as he could in the sink in his bathroom and then stacked them on the tray, again. He picked it up and carried it with him across the hall to Nagito’s suite. He knocked on the door and a few quick moments later, Nagito opened it, clear eyes brightening when he saw Hajime. “I, er, just brought back the tray. And I wanted to say thanks, again.”

“No need to thank me, Hajime. I hope your law book is going well.”

“La-  _ Oh _ ! Yeah! It’s going great. I got so much work done on it.” Hajime smiled to hide his painfully bad slip. Nagito just smiled back.  _ I can’t tell if he’s so inept at reading me that he genuinely believes this terrible lie or if he’s just being kind enough to put effort into pretending I’m telling him the truth.  _ Hajime handed Nagito the tray.  _ It’s gotta be the latter, right? He probably thinks I have some fucked up job or something. _

“You can come in, if you’d like. I’m sorry for the mess; I’m doing laundry.” Nagito opened the door for Hajime to come in. Hajime walked into a nearly spotless room. The only indication of the “mess” Nagito had brought up was a laundry basket sitting on the couch. 

“This is a nice set-up. It’s like an apartment.” Hajime looked around. He was in a main room that led off to a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom, and bedroom. They were all well decorated and almost eerily clean, as if no one lived in them. 

“Yes.” Nagito followed Hajime’s gaze around the room. “Before my parents died, I lived in the honeymoon suite and your room was the honeymoon suite we rented out. My parents lived here.”

“Is the honeymoon suite the room upstairs? The loud one?” Hajime pointed in the direction of the staircase. Nagito nodded.

“Ah, yes. Ibuki Mioda is staying there.”

“Her name sounds familiar…”

“She’s a popular punk musician apparently.” 

“Ohh, yeah. You mentioned her to me.” Hajime nodded slowly. “When we, uh, talked about celebrities who stay here.”

“Mm.” Nagito also nodded. 

“Is it weird to stay… er, where your parents…?” Hajime realized almost immediately how dumb of a question it was. Nagito didn’t respond for a moment, just picked up the laundry basket on the couch. His shoulders sagged slightly and he took a small breath.

“... No.” He settled on an answer. “But it used to be.” He glanced at two decorative crosses on the wall. “I wanted to be near them.” Nagito walked into the bedroom to set the laundry down there. Hajime took a step after him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Hajime trailed off.

“It’s alright.” Nagito responded. When he heard nothing more from Hajime, he straightened up and faced him. Hajime was staring at his bed with a confused look.  _ Why… why does his bed look familiar? Have I seen his sheets at the store, or-.... Oh.  _ Hajime blinked once. Twice. He suddenly recognized where he’d seen the bed.

Nagito looked between Hajime and the bed and made the connection. He froze, like a rabbit that just caught sight of an eagle, blood rushing cold.  _ Nagito’s… No. No way… but his reaction, his build, oh my God. He definitely is. _

__ _ Nagito’s the guy in the porn I’ve been watching.  _

Hajime made eye contact with Nagito and the world unstuck. In a moment, Nagito had crossed the distance between them and was on his knees in front of Hajime. There was a cold sweat on his face and the corners of his eyes were shaking, like he’d fall apart if something touched him. “I… Ah… Y-...” Hajime blinked stupidly down at him.  _ I’ve jerked off to Nagito. Oh my God, I’ve jerked off to Nagito. I’ve seen Nagito naked.  _ Very _ naked. Like, completely naked, dick out. I mean, it was like 480p, but- _

“Hajime, Hajime, please-” Nagito was wringing his hands desperately. “I-I- This hotel is all I have left of my parents, th-they… I-I can’t have anyone know, i-if that was our reputation-” Nagito was speaking so quickly it was hard to understand, but it didn’t matter because Hajime was still in his own head.  _ I’ve seen Nagito cum. Nagito, who I talk to and interact with, is in a video I have bookmarked on Pornhub.  _ “Please don’t tell anyone, Hajime, please.” Nagito’s hand found its way to Hajime’s shirt. “I-I’ll do anything. Just don’t tell anyone. You, you can stay here for free. I’ll pay you money, if you want. You can fuck me-”

“What?” Hajime blinked back to reality, only then realizing that Nagito had been speaking the entire time. 

“Anything. I promise. Do you have any fetish, Hajime? I’ll do it. You can close your eyes and pretend it’s not me. You could put a bag on my head-”

“What.” Hajime cut him off. “Nagito, please stand up.” He watched Nagito quickly get on his feet, back to his usual inch taller than Hajime. “I’m not going to blackmail you for sex.” Hajime frowned. 

“Money?” Nagito offered. 

“No.” 

“Then-”

“Nothing. I’m not gonna blackmail you. End of story.” Hajime shook his head. “What you do in your own time is none of my business. I’m not going to tell anyone else. And I don’t really have a place to judge you from. I mean, I’ve watched enough of your videos to recognize your sheets, I can’t really judge you for making them.” Hajime sighed. Nagito’s brow was drawn tight, clear eyes becoming murky. 

“You have to want something.” Nagito’s eyes narrowed. “I’m in no position to make demands but I can assure you that if you’re trying to hint something that I’m dreadful at picking things up.” 

“I don’t; I’m not. Really.” Hajime shook his head. “You’re a nice person, I have no interest in gossiping about you and besides, making porn isn’t like killing someone or something. Like, I get you probably don’t want people you know seeing it, but you’re not hurting anyone and if someone’s still got a sexual purity thing in this day and age, then they’re probably the problem.” Hajime saw Nagito still didn’t look like he believed him. “Do… do you, like, not get altruism or something?”

“You won’t say anything?” Nagito took a step closer to Hajime. 

“No.” Hajime promised, putting a hand on Nagito’s shoulder to steady him. Nagito flinched at the contact, but didn’t move away. He could feel Nagito shaking under his grasp. Hajime hesitated, his body trying to force the words out of him. “Here… I’ve got a secret, too. I’ll tell you mine and we’ll be even. When my books finished, I’ll leave and you won’t have to even see me and if I ever share your secret, you’ll know who it was and you can tell everyone mine. Okay?” Hajime’s voice had shifted into something softer. Nagito nodded, eyes wide. 

“I… I don’t write law books, but I  _ am _ an author. I write under a pseudonym. I’ve never shared my identity with anyone I don’t work with.”  _ That sounds dramatic.  _ Hajime sucked in a breath. “...I’m Izuru Kamukura.”


	2. Ventilation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big shout out to Zeke for helping me out with this chapter!! I hope everyone likes it and I'm really sorry for the long wait for this one. My second semester just started up and I have a rly heavy course load, so chapters might take more time than usual and I'm really sorry. Anyway, pls enjoy and have a great day!!! <3

“... I’m Izuru Kamukura.” The admission hung in the air for a full second. Nagito had once again frozen, eyes wide with an unreadable expression.  _ Oh! He probably doesn’t believe me. He maybe thinks I’m making fun of him? _ Hajime tried to think of reasons as to why Nagito had suddenly become little more than a realistic statue, barely breathing and blinking. “Um, here. I’ll show you.” He took his phone from his pocket and logged into twitter. “See? I’m on the official Twitter.” He showed Nagito the screen, but almost instantly had the phone pushed to the side as Nagito grabbed the collar of his shirt, kissing him roughly.  _ What!? What the fuck?! He’s kissing me? _ “Nagito-” Hajime started, but was cut off with another kiss. 

Nagito was pushing him to the bed, still kissing him. Hajime’s mind was blank, but his body was kissing back on instinct. When he came back to reality, he was on the bed, Nagito over him and still kissing him. His first thought was,  _ Nagito’s not a great kisser.  _ He was a messy kisser, his teeth constantly grazing Hajime’s lips as he kissed the sides of his mouth almost as much as his lips.  _ But it works, somehow. He makes it kinda hot. _

_ But this is kind of a lot at once. Too much is happening.  _ Hajime put a hand on Nagito’s chest, stopping him. “Nagito-” He tried, stopping when he saw the unreadable look in Nagito’s eyes. He took a breath and tried again. “Er, Nagito, why are you doing this?” The other man blinked blankly at him. 

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“No. Like, not even a little bit.”  _ Am I stupid? _

“You’re so special, Hajime. I  _ knew _ you would be… a famous author? I’d think this was a dream, but my imagination would never be creative enough for something like this.” He sucked in an audible breath, eyes glinting and mouth stuck in a half grin.

“I don’t want you to do this ‘cause I’m famous.” Hajime frowned, brow furrowed. 

“It’s not because you’re famous, Hajime.” Nagito shook his head. “It’s because you’re  _ special _ .” 

“Huh?”  _ I’m so fucking lost.  _ “Nagito, I’m not gonna sleep with you right now.”

“Is it because I’m disgusting?” Nagito stared disdainfully at his own hand.

“No.”

“I am.”

“Ok.” Hajime wasn’t sure how to respond. “I think… I think maybe you’re a little overcome with emotion after realizing I know about, er, your hobby? And I’ve just told you big news, too, so a lot’s happened-”

“I’m in my right state of mind, Hajime.” Nagito seemed offended, a cold emptiness in his eyes. “I’ve found you fascinating since we met in the hospital, but I wasn’t sure why. When you told me you were just a normal person with a normal job I thought maybe my intuition had failed me, but I was right! There  _ is _ something fascinating about you, Hajime! Not only are you a famous author, but you’re Izuru Kamukura…  _ Farewell to Future _ is unlike anything I’ve ever read… you’re obsessed with humans that are different, too, aren’t you?”

“I… I think we’re moving a little too fast, Nagito. Can we just… talk?”

“Y-yes.” Nagito looked surprised. “I have many questions for you.” He looked away.

“About me seeing your porn?” Hajime frowned. 

“No, your books.”

“O-oh, yeah, uh… that makes more sense. Yeah.” Hajime coughed. “I’ve never actually talked to anyone about my writing. Only the people I work with and interviews I’ve done. But even the interviews were usually more joke questions people sent on social media, I guess.”

“You wrote your first book eight years ago, I remember when it came out.” Nagito mused. “I read a lot. I have nothing else to do at the desk and I’ve never had friends, so I’ve always read-”

“Me too.” Hajime nodded. “That’s part of how I started writing.”

“You must have had friends.” Nagito raised an eyebrow.

“In college. High school was different; I was lonely literally all the time. I started reading and writing ‘cause of it, so when I started getting story ideas, I think that’s why I chose writing instead of music or art or anything else.” Hajime explained.

“I just never started writing.” Nagito nodded along. “And because I lived off campus for college, and I’m absolutely horrible at speaking to people, it never got better. But your books… There’s something in them that always brings me back. Something that makes me feel less alone. I think it’s the way you narrate your books. I’m grateful for it.”

“Um, you’re welcome.” Hajime wasn’t sure what else to say. “Why were you off-campus for college?”

“My parents died in high school,”  _ I’m such an idiot. This is the second time I’ve accidentally brought up his dead parents, I think.  _ “I was already in line to go to Hope’s Peak University, and it’s only an hour away, so I commuted every morning. I got my major in thanatology.”

“You went to Hope’s Peak? Isn’t that like an Ivy?” Hajime stared at Nagito. “What the hell is thanatology?”

“I’m still not sure how I managed to get in. My grades were good, since I had nothing to do besides study. But I’m not a particularly outstanding person and everyone else at school was. I always felt so out of place.” Nagito sighed. “I chose thanatology because of my parents. It’s the study of death. I also studied psychology, but I was very bad at it. My focus was ambiguous loss counseling.” Nagito drummed his fingers on the bed. “If I didn’t have the B&B, I would have gotten my PhD and worked in it. Not to sound ungrateful. I’m thankful to my parents for leaving me it.” He looked like he was forcing himself to be grateful for it.

“I studied law. I, er, I went to a really bad school, to be honest. My grades were shit and I didn’t really like classrooms all that much. I was just competitive and I liked debate club, so I thought law would be good. The only class I ever did well in was English.” Hajime laughed. “I was pretty good at sports, though!”

“They made me try basketball, because of my height, and I broke both of my legs.” Nagito’s eyes widened at the memory. “Where do you get ideas for your books?”

“It’s sort of stupid. Do you remember when I told you about how I get nightmares?” Hajime asked. Nagito hummed and nodded. “I’ve had them my whole life. It used to be a bigger issue. I couldn’t ever think straight ‘cause they scared me so much. I saw a therapist and all that, but… I dunno, they just never stopped. Until one day in college, my ex gave me the idea of writing them down. I never had that nightmare again. I entered one in a short story contest since it had a cash prize and I was a desperate college student and my current publishing company offered me a deal on it if I made it longer.” Hajime stared up at the ceiling. “All of my books are just the nightmares I have. I must be a pretty normal guy ‘cause my nightmares seem to scare everyone else, too. At least enough for them to buy my books.” A sudden thought occurred to Hajime. “Did they scare you?”

“Hm? No.” Nagito shook his head. “They frightened me, but they never scared me. I don’t get scared of things, Hajime. There are enough things in the real world for me to fear. But the concepts in your books excited me. They gave me something to be distracted by when I was confronted with genuine fear. Fear is a powerful emotion.”

“Then… What are you scared of?”

“Many things. I’m terrified of the thought of you telling people my secret and tarnishing the reputation of this B&B, since it’s all I have left of my parents. I’m worried that the curse here might be real and it would hurt one of my guests. Some days I’m even scared a giant monster will lock me in a dungeon where all I can do is cook and play sports and eat bell peppers.” He said all of it in the same tone, which made Hajime simply watch him for a moment before realizing  _ Nagito Komaeda just made a joke. An actually kinda funny joke.  _ Hajime laughed, a sound that made Nagito smile.

* * *

The night continued with Nagito asking Hajime a plethora of questions about random plot details and decisions in his books until Hajime finally stopped him, yawning. “I’m sorry Nagito, I’ve really gotta sleep. I’ve been up since early this morning working on a new book.”

“Really?” Nagito’s eyes glittered.

“Yeah, but uh, before I go, I think we should talk about, um… the kiss.” Hajime’s face felt hot. 

“I apologize, Hajime. I got carried away when you told me you were Izuru Kamukura. I didn’t know how else to display my excitement.” Nagito said in a surprisingly even tone. “I know I’m just a lowly, little worm-”

“That’s a weird thing to say.” Hajime interrupted him with a blank look. 

“Is it?” Nagito blinked back.

“Yeah. It’s weird to call yourself a worm, I think.”

“Hm.” There was silence. “Well either way, I am grateful that I was able to kiss you.” Nagito caught Hajime’s gaze. If Hajime’s face had been feeling hot before, it was suddenly pricking with fire. He immediately broke eye contact with the other man and let out a nervous laugh. 

“Er, Nagito… if you’re looking for a relationship right now, erm… I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t be  _ opposed _ to the idea of going out with you.” 

“It’s not nice to make fun of me, Hajime.” Nagito looked genuinely upset. Before Hajime could say anymore, Nagito’s eyes went wide at his expression. “You’re not?” Nagito blinked a few times, staring down at the sheets of the bed. “Well… Then perhaps a date would be alright. Unfortunately, today is my only day off. I’m only away from the desk after midnight.” Nagito frowned. 

“Um, after midnight is fine. We’ll just do a late movie or something.”

“That would be nice.” Nagito’s eyes lit up. “I’m looking forward to it, Hajime.” He smiled a genuine smile that made Hajime’s heart race and the rest of his goodbyes and walk to his room were a blur. He pulled off his clothes and crawled into his bed, pulling the blanket over him and staring at where Nagito’s phone number was written on the telephone on the nightstand. 

_ It would be really fucked up to look up his porn right now, wouldn’t it? _ Hajime blinked.  _ Yeah. It would be… But… would he even mind? I mean, he didn’t technically say anything about not watching it anymore, just not to tell anyone it was him, right? _ Hajime turned his phone on.  _ Besides, I’ve already seen a lot of it… If I’ve already seen it, then it doesn’t matter if I see it again just like, one more time.  _

Hajime caved and opened his bookmark to Nagito’s videos. The most recent had been a few days ago, which made him blink in surprise.  _ He’s made videos since I got here? _ Hajime realized that was sort of silly for him to think about, since  _ of course _ Nagito’s life would continue as normal. He scrolled through the videos before randomly clicking on one. 

Only Nagito’s leg was visible at the corner of the screen at first, a handful of metallic sounds clicking through the microphone. Nagito shifted back into view and it became clear the metallic sound had been the handcuffs, which were cuffed over one of his wrists. The handcuffs were looped around the bed and secured on his other wrist.  _ I’ve never choked someone during sex… or used handcuffs. If the date goes well and we have sex, what if I’m too vanilla for him? Or too inexperienced? I’m not exactly a sex God- Wait, what am I thinking? That’s pretty presumptuous of me to assume that we’d have sex on the first date. I don’t want this to just be a hook up thing.  _ Hajime surprised himself with that thought, raising his eyebrows.  _ God, when’s the last time I actually wanted to go on a date with someone? _ Hajime didn’t want to admit to himself that it had been Chiaki. He grimaced and put his attention back on the video. It was paused, but Hajime hesitated before starting it again. Nagito’s torso was stretched across the screen, milky skin and shadows highlighting his litheness. Hajime felt the desperate want to be able to put his hands on him. He imagined the feeling of his hand settling on the dip in Nagito’s waist, or the thin skin that stretched over his hip bones. Hajime inhaled and blinked at the video, sudden guilt washing over him. He sighed and fell back, staring at the ceiling.  _ Fuck. I’m acting like such a freak to this guy, I’m practically lusting after him. Jeez… I’m going to bed.  _ Hajime turned his phone off and turned on his side, slowly falling into a restless sleep. 

* * *

Hajime awoke with a pain in his hip and his elbows. He groaned and tried to straighten up, but hit his back on something and fell down again.He opened his eyes and looked around, finding himself in a tiny metal passage, almost like a-  _ vent? Why the fuck am I in a vent? _ He rubbed the sore spots where the metal had dug into him and sighed, trying to turn around to see if there was an exit behind him, but he wasn’t able to because of how small the vent was. The realization he couldn’t do anything but move forward made him nervous.  _ I’ve never thought I was claustrophobic, but… this sucks.  _

There was a ragged scream from somewhere behind him that made Hajime jump, hitting his head on the metal. “NO! NO, FUCK NO!” The voice screamed, rage so clear in it that it sent a palpable fear straight to Hajime’s heart. He froze, trying not to move or make any sounds. “YOU FUCKER, YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! I’LL KILL YOU!” The voice was getting closer, accompanied by a banging in the vent that sounded like something approaching. Hajime started crawling as fast as he could, bruising his knees and elbows as he went, wincing every time they caught on a screw or a divet. The voice behind him was growing louder and more upset with every second that passed. Finally, Hajime saw an exit approaching up ahead. The sight gave him new strength and he clamored through the metal tube, no longer feeling every bruise and scrape. He turned the corner, feet first and kicked the vent as hard as he could, but it didn’t break. The voice was still screaming and loud  _ clang _ only a few feet away made him jump, kicking the vent once again and falling when it gave out. He stepped out of the way of it, expecting whatever monster was chasing him to follow him out, but the screaming simply turned to sobbing and stayed in the vents. He breathed a sigh of relief and finally looked around him. 

He was in a small closet, where many sports coats and fur jackets were hung up in neatly arranged lines. He slowly, nervously opened the door out and stepped into the next room. He was greeted with silence and a thousand stares. Hundreds of people were standing in the room, all in fancy dress with little plates of hors d'oeuvres and tiny champagne glasses. Every single eye was trained in on him, never wavering or even blinking. Despite some of the people being close, he still couldn’t make out any of their features. He swallowed nervously, a sick feeling overcoming him. Two men in suits emerged from the crowd, one in a white suit with an even spray of blood spilled across it, and the other in a purple suit with nothing remarkable about it. Hajime blinked at them. “Hajime?” The one in the purple suit called his name, his face still blurry and impossible to make anything of. 

“Yes?”

“There’s someone in the hallway.” The man in the white suit raised a hand and pointed at something behind Hajime. He turned to look, but before he could, someone smashed one of the champagne bottles over his head and he collapsed.

* * *

Hajime awoke with a start, gripping the blankets around him and doing his best to breathe normally.  _ It was just another stupid nightmare. _ He ran a hand through his hair and sat up in bed.  _ Fuck. I forgot how much I hate these.  _ He opened his phone to many missed messages from Kokichi. He’d forgotten he’d told Kokichi he was working on a new novel and the many messages he’d missed were full of exclamation marks and confetti emojis. He’d also missed a notification that Shuichi had done a stream the night before. Staring down at Kokichi’s texts, an idea flooded Hajime’s brain. He got up quickly and got dressed as fast as he could, brushing his teeth and pulling on one of the few outfits he’d brought that wasn't just sweatpants. He followed the hallway down until he got to Shuichi’s room and knocked on the door.  _ Nagito already knows, and I already said I’d be fine with Shuichi knowing.  _ Despite his affirmations to himself, he still almost jumped when Shuichi opened the door. “Crazy night?” Hajime remarked at the thick eyeliner that had smudges across Shuichi’s face. 

“Fell asleep on stream last night.” Shuichi yawned. “Hajime, right? Can I help you with something?” He rubbed the smudged makeup, making it worse. 

“Erm, yeah. But it’s sort of hard to, uh, describe, could I come in?”

“Sure.” Shuichi opened the door and let him in. Hajime blinked in surprise. He’d expected he’d have to bargain for that. Shuichi’s room was a mess, various pieces of black clothing strewn everywhere and a half-eaten cheese pizza sitting on the nightstand. 

“So, uh, Shuichi, we actually know each other, I just … I didn’t know how to tell you earlier.” Hajime started and Shuichi’s eyes went wide. 

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t even realize!”

“N-no, you’re fine, there’s no way you could have known.” Hajime interjected quickly. “We’ve only spoken on Twitter and e-mail and stuff. Er, I go by Izuru Kamukura on there-”

“No way!” Shuichi took a step back, brown eyes going even wider. “You’re Izuru? That’s so crazy we’re staying at the same hotel! Even at the same time! I’ve always wanted to meet you in person!” Shuichi smiled, holding a hand out to Hajime.

“You too.” He nodded back. “I’m, um, I’m coming to you with a business preposition.”

“Okay.” Shuichi nodded. 

“I’m working on a new novel. It takes place in a hotel, and I was thinking of asking Nagito’s permission to use this one for advertising reasons. A physical location fans could go to would be great and let them interact more with the book. But I realized we could do even more.” Hajime raised an eyebrow. 

“You want me to film an episode here.” Shuichi wondered aloud. “We’d both profit off of each others’ advertising. We’re the two biggest players in the horror genre at the moment, a crossover would be ambitious.”

“But very doable.” Hajime noted. Shuichi nodded, thoughtfully. 

“Let’s do it. Have you spoken with your publisher or your-”

“Nope, but I know exactly how to get him on board.” Hajime sighed. “Can I make a sort of weird request?”

* * *

“You’re on the right track, Hajime, but I can’t go through with this. If we  _ do _ have some sort of physical location, it would be better for us to do it near a theme park or something, so we can sign something with them and guarantee that the hotel would be able to hand how many of your fans would flock to it. I can’t agree to this, especially on such short notice.” Kokichi’s frown was audible. 

“I thought you’d say that.”

“Then why’d you bother calling?” Kokichi grimaced. 

“There’s one more thing that I think might just get you to agree.”

“And what’s that?” Kokichi sighed. Hajime texted him his request from Shuichi, a selfie of both of them. Shuichi was still in his pajamas and ruined makeup. He’d offered to change but Hajime remembered specifically the time Kokichi had talked about how Shuichi was wearing pajamas for the first time in an episode for an entire lunch break and assured Shuichi the PJs would be fine. Hajime hit send. There was a pause and then a strangled noise on the other side of the phone. “How did you get this?”

“Shuichi’s also agreed to film an episode of his show at this same hotel.”

“ _ You _ -...  _ I-... Agh!  _ Fuck. Y’know what? Fine, we’ll do the stupid advertising thing. If you can get the owner of the hotel to agree, then we’ll do it. I’m flying out tomorrow, either way. Is Shuichi still at the hotel?”

“Yep.” Hajime laughed. 

“Okay, I’m packing, bye.” Kokichi hung up. 

Hajime knocked on Nagito’s door, ready to give his spiel for the third time that day. Nagito answered quickly. “Ah, hello, Hajime! I was just getting your tea.” Nagito tilted his head. 

“Um, could I talk to you about something?” 

“Of course.” Nagito opened the door to let him in without hesitation.  _ Everyone here is weirdly chill with me being in their rooms.  _ Hajime cleared the thought from his head and took a breath, trying to figure out the best way to present his idea to Nagito. 

“Um, well I’m working on a new book and Shuichi and I were talking about it and we sort of came up with an idea, but we need your permission before we go forward with anything.”

“Why would you need my permission?” Nagito raised an eyebrow in confusion. The kettle made a whistling sound and he took it off the burner. “I don’t have much authority on anything.”

“Er, well you have authority over this place.”

“I suppose.” Nagito shrugged. 

“We want your permission to do a collaboration between Shuichi’s show and my book here. My book is set in a hotel, we thought we could mention this one specifically and have Shuichi do an episode about it. It would generate publicity for both of our projects and it would definitely raise a lot of advertising for your B&B.” Hajime explained quickly, speaking with his hands. Nagito gripped the counter behind him. 

“A-ah… A  _ lot _ of advertising. You’re both famous.” He blinked at the ground.

“Yeah, I mean last time one of my novels even  _ seemed _ like it was set in some town, they had to set up a new tourist office, ‘cause so many fans tried to go there. And that’s not even thinking about how well any of the places Shuichi visits do after his show. Granted, they’d all be horror fans, and I know you said you got tired of those-”

“No! No, that would be completely fine with me.” Nagito sounded slightly breathless. “My parents would have loved that.” He almost smiled. “Thank you, Hajime.”

“So you’re chill with it?”

“Yes, of course.” Nagito nodded vigorously. 

“ _ Sweet _ , thanks so much, Nagito! I’m gonna call my publisher back. See you!” Hajime took out his phone and stepped out of the room, already on his way to his own. Nagito watched the door close behind him and slowly slid to the ground, arms wrapped around himself. He could feel himself shaking.  _ Taking care of the hotel is the only way I have left to make my parents happy… And Hajime’s just done it for me. And he’s agreed to go on a date with me? _ Nagito stared at his hands, the blue veins in them making him dizzy.  _ Are things going too well right now? _

Nagito choked out a sudden sob, surprising himself. He put a hand to his face and felt tears streaming down, flinching at the feeling.  _ Am I mad at myself for being too happy right now? Why am I crying? _ He stood back up, sniffling, and wiped his face off.  _ There’s no time for that.  _ He grabbed the tea tray and set off to Shuichi’s room. 

* * *

The next day, Hajime waited at the front desk with Nagito, knowing that Kokichi’s flight would get in soon. They’d kept a peaceful chatter going, but for the most part, both of them just read silently, enjoying each other’s presence. As the sky grew darker outside, Hajime continuously checked his phone for new messages from Kokichi. “You’re sure you’re okay having more people here?” Hajime asked for what felt like the tenth time. 

“Yes.” Nagito nodded, not looking up from his book. “Don’t worry, I assure you I won’t let the quality of your experience worsen-”

“I wasn’t worried about that, I meant if it would be stressful for you.”

“Oh.” Nagito laughed lightly, like it was a very funny joke Hajime had just told. “I think I can handle it, Hajime. Even if I’m not very good under stress.” He went back to reading. Hajime just nodded, frowning. There was a sudden creaking sound and the front door opened quickly. Nagito stood up, almost on instinct. Hajime rushed to the door to find Gundham carrying what looked to be nearly five bags. 

“Gundham?” Hajime blinked. “A-aren’t just you and Kokichi staying?”

“And me!” Chiaki jumped up from behind him.

“Chiaki?” Hajime smiled, rushing to hug her. “It’s been forever!”

“It really has! Kokichi offered me a temporary spot for this project you’re working on and I took it so I could say hi.” Chiaki explained. During college, when Hajime had dropped out to continue his writing career, Chiaki had finished her degree and gone into advertising. She’d worked at Kokichi’s publishing office as a way to get her foot in the industry when Hajime’s books had first started to take off. 

“I thought you were working with some big video game company?”

“I am, but there’s a break between projects and they have a whole team in the advertising department, so I took a little side job. Besides, advertising for video games is too easy, I wanna new challenge.”

“She didn’t take much convincing.” Kokichi finally entered the hotel after paying their taxi driver. “Hey, don’t you have a car? Why didn’t you pick us up?”

“Er, about that. I kinda got in an accident my first day here.” Hajime admitted sheepishly. “They said the car’s gonna take a while to be back up and running again.”

“The plane had a dark energy.” Gundham frowned seriously. Gundham had a PhD in mythology and a concentration in occult studies and he’d served as Hajime’s researcher for his books once they’d become more popular. He also had quite a few hands in the horror industry that helped with PR. 

“Translate that as a baby almost puked on him.” Kokichi muttered in Hajime’s ear. “So you must be Nagito Komaeda, nice to finally meet you. Hajime’s said so much about you-”

“ _ No I haven’t _ !” Hajime startled.  _ What the fuck is he getting out of saying that? _

“It’s nice to meet you.” Nagito simply smiled, a quick smirk tossed in Hajime’s direction that made him blush. He looked away so neither of them would see. “You must forgive me, it’s an off-season so I wasn’t expecting so many guests, but I have prepared the rooms as best I can.” Nagito fetched three keys and handed one to Chiaki and after seeing that both of Gundham’s hands were taken, he handed Kokichi the other two. 

“Thanks, Nagito.” Chiaki smiled at him. She took her key and her bag from Gundham and started up the stairs, not waiting for Nagito to show her where her room was. As she passed through to the hallway, Hajime saw Chiaki smile politely at someone. 

“She’s in a hurry.” Hajime watched her leave.

“Her switch died on the plane ride here. I think she just wants to get back to gaming.” Kokichi shrugged. “You owe me, by the way. Do you know what kind of hell it is having a video-game deprived Chiaki, a puke-covered Gundham  _ and _ -” Kokichi cut himself off, pupils suddenly dilating and breath stopping in his throat.

“Kokichi?” Hajime waved a hand in front of his face. No response. He turned around, seeing the person Chiaki had greeted. 

“Hi Shuichi.” He waved up to him. “You should come meet my publisher, he’s a big fan.” Hajime pointed to Kokichi, who was still frozen. Shuichi finished coming down the steps and approached them, an easy going smile on his lips. Hajime nudged Kokichi when he still didn’t move. 

“H-hi. I’m Kokichi.” Kokichi could only blink. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Kokichi. I’m so happy to meet a fan.” Shuichi smiled.

“H-ha. Yeah…” Kokichi’s eyes went blank for a second and he was suddenly back to normal. “It’s really great to meet you.”

“Hey, Gundham, Nagito, maybe we should take the bags up?” Hajime offered in a forced voice.  _ And Kokichi says I never do anything for him.  _ Nagito’s eyes widened just slightly and he nodded quickly as Hajime and Gundham carried the rest of the bags upstairs. On his way up, Hajime turned around to make a  _ you owe me big time _ face. Kokichi just nodded and swallowed. 

* * *

With Nagito’s help, everyone had gotten settled in their rooms. Chiaki was still holed up, finishing the level she’d been deprived of on the plane, but Gundham and Kokichi had explored a little. They’d found themselves in the dining room, Gundham and Shuichi chatting excitedly about some mythical creature while Kokichi nodded along, watching Shuichi. Nagito and Hajime were sitting at the next table over, watching all of them interact. 

“It’s amazing you managed to find an entire team with such an interest in horror.” Nagito said quietly as Gundham raised his voice, passionately describing a recent essay he’d read on the socio-cultural background of a ghost story Hajime had never heard of. 

“Kokichi only got into it around the time I signed a contract with him. He really only watches Shuichi’s show. Gundham, on the other hand… Yeah. He’s… He’s pretty into it.”

“ _ Yes _ !” He suddenly raised his voice again. “I  _ do _ believe that a hamster is capable of channeling a spirit’s energy! We’ve seen it with dogs and goats, why not hamsters?” As Gundham spoke, Kokichi barely held in a snort. Gundham turned to him. “Do you find something amusing, Kokichi?”

“No. Not at all.” Kokichi shook his head.

“Kokichi doesn’t believe in the occult.” Gundham noted to Shuichi. 

“That’s understandable. It can be a difficult thing to believe in. But… if you don’t believe in ghosts, Kokichi, why do you watch my show?” Shuichi seemed genuinely confused.

“Um. Good question.” Kokichi looked away. “Your, er, hosting abilities never cease to amaze me?” He offered. Before Shuichi could answer, there was a crackling sound and the lights in the room went out. Shuichi gasped audibly and there was a commotion from their table as Gundham stood up. Hajime heard no sound from Kokichi or Nagito, but he reached out for the latter, feeling Nagito’s jacket and almost breathing a sigh of relief before he felt weird for it and held it. 

“Everyone stay where you are, I’ll check if the power’s out.” Nagito could be heard standing up from his side of the table and he somehow managed to slip his way through the entire dining hall without knocking into anything.

“Kokichi?” Hajime still hadn’t heard him.

“What?” The voice came from immediately behind him and he jumped. 

“ _ What the fuck?! _ ” He screeched. “Kokichi, why the hell are you standing behind me like that?”

“You and Gundham are the biggest ones here, but he’d protect his hamsters over me, so I hid behind you.” 

“You don’t need to hide from a power outage.” Hajime sighed, but was greeted with silence. “Shuichi, are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry! It was just so sudden.” Shuichi sounded strangely apologetic. “Luckily, I’ve spent a lot of time in dark places for work, so it doesn’t bother me now that I’ve adjusted.”

“Okay, I’m gonna stand behind you, instead, then.” Kokichi’s voice was suddenly much closer to Shuichi than before. 

_ Will Nagito be okay alone out there? If it’s pitch black in here, I bet the rest of the house is just as bad. Should I go try to find him? _ Hajime started in the direction of the exit of the dining room and immediately hit his shin on a table leg.  _ Okay, maybe he’ll be fine.  _

Another ten or so minutes went by until Nagito returned, flashlight in hand with Chiaki and Ibuki at his side. “Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay, I wanted to check on the others. I’ve called the neighbors and it seems the power is out across the entire street.” Nagito had a backpack on that he hadn’t before he left. He set it on the ground and dug through it, pulling out various other flashlights and battery-operated lanterns and distributing them to everyone. “Because of the snowstorms, the power here goes out more often than it should. I am really truly sorry this had to happen your first night in and that I can’t do anything about it-”

“Nagito, you’re fine. You already helped me out of my room and got all this stuff. You’re being a great host.” Chiaki shook her head and turned her lantern on, illuminating herself and Ibuki behind her. “Here.” She handed a flashlight to Ibuki. It was Hajime’s first time seeing Ibuki out of her room since he’d come to the hotel and while he hadn’t immediately recognized her from her name, her face was much more familiar to him. He’d seen her on a plethora of band shirts and pins at book signings and the kids who followed him on social media loved to tweet about her. 

“I-I… You’re very kind, Chiaki.” Nagito looked away. “If we go upstairs, there are more windows, so we’ll have better lighting. Does everyone feel comfortable with that.”

“Sure.” Kokichi turned on a flashlight directly behind Chiaki and Ibuki. “ _ Ow! _ ” He yelped when Chiaki hit him out of surprise. He bumped into Ibuki and let out another cry of pain. “Why are you so spiky?” He whined, fake tears clear in his voice. “This is stupid. And scary. Nagito, turn the power back on.”

“I’m so sorry-” Nagito started, but Hajime knew where he was headed and it wasn’t worth the ten minute apology.

“Kokichi, don’t be a baby. Let’s go.” Hajime turned on his lantern and tossed two flashlights in Gundham and Shuichi’s directions. “Lead the way, Nagito.” He motioned towards the door and Nagito obliged, leading the group out of the dining room and up the stairs. Even with the lights, it was hard to navigate the steep staircase and Hajime found himself tripping more than once. On his third time yelping when his ankle slipped, Nagito turned around and held a hand out to him.

“We’ll be more stable if we walk together.” He offered. 

“Er, y-yeah.” Hajime took his hand, lowering his lantern so Nagito wouldn’t see his blush. After what felt like ages, everyone finally made it to the top of the stairs. “Where should we go?” Hajime asked.  _ I doubt people wanna split up when it’s still dark like this. _

“My room.” Kokichi offered. “I’ve got booze.”

“Sold!” Ibuki took a step closer to him. 

“We could make a party out of this.” Chiaki nodded. “If I can’t play games, I wanna stay entertained somehow. Besides, everyone has to see Hajime drunk.” Chiaki giggled. Hajime groaned. _Chiaki and I have way too many embarrassing college stories about each other. I swear to God if she tells Nagito-_ _wait._

“Kokichi, where did you even get booze?” Hajime raised an eyebrow. 

“Just bought it.”  _ A blatant lie. Okay.  _ “Sounds like people are down with my room.” Kokichi looked around, but no one objected, so they stopped in the room closest to the stairs. Everyone found places on the beds and the floor, setting down their lanterns around the room to create as much light as they could. Nagito opened the blinds and the moonlight outside helped slightly. Kokichi unzipped one of his three suitcases and pulled out two bottles of vodka. “I didn’t plan on using any of this so soon, so uh, I’ve only got this, Coke, and cranberry juice.”

“Dude. Those are like, the lamest mixers ever.” Ibuki looked deflated.

“Cranberry juice? Do you have a UTI?” Chiaki followed up Ibuki.

“You’re sure you don’t have rum for the Coke?”

“ _ Yes _ , and if you guys are all pissy about my vodka, then no one gets it besides me.” Kokichi huffed. “And yes, Chiaki. I have such a bad UTI that it’s life threatening. I got it from spending the last three days in a swamp naked.” Kokichi grumbled as he opened the first bottle.

* * *

It took another fifteen minutes for everyone to get a drink and for Kokichi to stop pouting about everyone’s criticisms of his not-so-great actually-terrible vodka crans. “I don’t normally drink.” Shuichi looked down at his drink.

“You don’t have to.” Kokichi shrugged. 

“It’s fine. But I should warn everyone I’m a lightweight.” He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. Nagito had already started on his own drink, silently sipping and watching everyone else. Hajime was on the bed above him, but he moved down to the floor, giving Nagito a small smile as he sat down next to him. 

“It is fitting that such an event would happen as we work on such a dark book.” Gundham grinned, a small squeak emanating from his sleeve. 

“You’re right. I didn’t even think of that.” Hajime took a sip of his drink. 

“Ibuki thinks everyone should play a drinking game.” Ibuki looked around. Everyone shrugged or nodded.

“Why not?” Kokichi settled in the middle of the circle. “Never have I ever?” Kokichi had a look like he was daring anyone to criticize his choice in games, but no one did. “Alright, I’ll go first. Never have I ever had sex somewhere I shouldn’t have.”

“‘What do you mean by that?” Nagito tilted his head. 

“I dunno, like public or whatever.” Kokichi eyed the circle to see who would drink. Nagito, Gundham, and Ibuki all took a drink. “Okay, Gundham, your turn.” Kokichi nodded at him. 

“Never have I ever been arrested.” Gundham looked disappointed in Kokichi, who was the only one to drink. “Tax fraud?” He asked. 

“Haha.” Kokichi said with a very straight face. “Spray painted a cop car in high school.” 

“Very cool!” Ibuki nodded with sparkling eyes. “I’ll go! Never have I ever gotten in a physical fight.” She looked sideways. “Unless you count moshing.” She decided not to drink either way, but Hajime, Gundham, and Kokichi all took sips. 

“Okay, fine. I’ll go. Never have I ever seen a ghost in real life.” Hajime decided on a nice, neutral sounding question. Everyone besides him and Kokichi took a drink. “Really? That many of you?” He couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. “Alright fine, Chiaki, your turn.”

“Hm…” She put a finger to her lip, thinking deeply about her question. “Never have I ever cried on public transport.” She watched Nagito and Shuichi drink. “Nagito, you haven’t gone yet, go ahead.”

“Never have I ever been in love.” He said without hesitation.  _ Damn. Ok.  _ Chiaki and Hajime both took a drink, exchanging glances.  _ It is a little awkward to play this with an ex, I guess.  _ Gundham took a drink, thinking of his girlfriend Sonia, who had stayed home with their other pets for the trip. Shuichi and Kokichi didn’t drink, but they both looked away. Ibuki Put her drink down after a pause, as if she had to think about it.  _ Has Nagito really never been in love? I mean, I figured he wasn’t head over heels for any of the guys in his videos, but… never in love?  _ “Gundham.” He nodded to him.

“Never have I ever… had a naked photo of myself posted online… a ‘nude.’” Gundham said the word like it was one of his mythology vocab jargon pieces. Hajime and Kokichi stifled laughs, looking at each other. Hajime gave a sideways glance to Nagito’s drinking, hoping his face didn’t betray any of the other man’s secrets. Nagito had managed to not even react to the question. Shuichi also took a drink, blushing much more visibly. Kokichi nodded knowingly. 

“My nudes were leaked a few years ago. A… fan… posted them on social media.” Shuichi looked down at the ground. “Fortunately, they were taken down fairly quickly, but er, y’know… the internet is forever and all that.” Shuichi’s face was beet red. Nagito had drunk the most of anyone so far, but he didn’t seem phased. “Um, never have I ever…” Shuichi laughed like something was really funny. “Never have I ever…” He laughed again. “Never have I ever… had sex for money.” 

Hajime felt Nagito freeze next to him.  _ No way.  _ He turned to look at Nagito, who had a deer-in-the-headlights look.  _ He’s scared to drink. _ Nagito hesitated, but took a quick sip. No one else seemed to notice as Shuichi told everyone about a fan who tried to offer him money for sex on Twitter, which ahd apparently sparked the question. Nagito averted his eyes from Hajime and didn’t make eye contact for the next few rounds. People continued asking questions and drinking, until Chiaki was giggling at every sentence spoken and Shuichi could barely sit up straight. Gundham was trying to explain some random demon to Ibuki, who looked very disinterested and Kokichi was watching nervously as Shuichi occasionally swayed in his seat. Hajime was still nowhere near drunk, and it seemed Ibuki, Nagito, and Kokichi were in the same boat as him. He was starting to feel a buzz, but just barely. 

Chiaki had fallen asleep on the rug, snoring lightly with her head on Ibuki’s lap. “I can help her to her room.” Ibuki offered, standing up and pulling Chiaki with her. She grabbed one of the lanterns from the floor and helped Chiaki across the room. She thanked Kokichi for the booze and went on her way. 

“This is a long time for the power to be out.” Kokichi noted, checking his watch. “Shuichi?” He turned to the blue-haired man, who had a put a hand to his mouth. 

“I don’t feel well.” His eyes were wide.  _ Oh no. Not Good.  _ Hajime tried to stand up to help him to the bathroom in time, but he only succeeded in spilling his coke and vodka all over his shirt. 

“ _ Fuck.” _ He groaned. “Kokichi-”

“I can handle it.” Kokichi nodded, putting an arm under Shuichi and taking one of the lamps with him to the bathroom. “I’ll hold your bangs back.” He could hear Kokichi mumble.  _ Great. So he’s reliable once in his life and it’s for his crush. _ Hajime was only vaguely aware of Gundham singing some random song and Nagito standing up next to him.

“Hajime, I’ll help with your shirt.” He offered. “I have stain remover in my room.”

“Okay, sure. Thanks.” Hajime looked to Gundham, who was still humming and trying to console Shuichi in the bathroom, who was attempting to explain the face wash he’d need to Kokichi between dry heaves. _He wasn’t kidding about not being good with alcohol._ _But I think between Gundham and Kokichi, he should be okay._ Hajime followed Nagito and his flashlight down the hall to Nagito’s suite.

“I’ll be just a moment.” Nagito ducked into his laundry room. Hajime unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off, shuddering at the feeling of the sticky fabric. Hajime had set the spare lantern down on a table, illuminating the room just slightly. Nagito came back from the laundry room and froze. He let out a small, choked noise. 

“What’s wrong?” Hajime raised an eyebrow. Until standing up and walking, he hadn’t really noticed how dizzy he felt.  _ Maybe I’m a little drunker than I thought I was.  _ Nagito was blushing a deep red.  _ Maybe he’s drunk, too? _ Hajime wondered. 

Nagito was still staring, trying desperately to tell his body and eyes to move, but nothing seemed to work.  _ You have no right to watch him like this.  _ He tried to remind himself, but… it was hard not to. Hajime’s tan chest was highlighted by the light in front of him and Hajime’s hazy expression sent a feeling down Nagito’s spine that he knew he had to get a handle on,  _ before I make a fool of myself in front of Hajime.  _ “I-I have the stain remover.” He mumbled. Hajime shook his head. 

“I’m too tired. Can I sit on your bed?” He asked, suddenly perking up. Nagito nodded and followed him into his room. He tentatively sat down next to Hajime, nervous the other man would pick up on his inability to look away from his semi-naked form. “Nagito… it’s crazy you’ve never been in love, before.” Hajime laid down, staring at the ceiling. 

“Well… I can’t exactly make someone fall in love with me.”

“But… I don’t get it.” Hajime frowned, as if he was concentrating very hard. “Y’know, you mentioned someone telling you that you wouldn’t be good to date-”  _ Ah, Hajime, there has been many more than one person.  _ “But… you’re really nice. I mean… You’re, like, really weird. But nice.” Hajime sighed. Nagito didn’t even know how to comprehend a response to Hajime’s compliment. He just shook slightly, like a cricket vibrating in the grass. 

“Hajime… you are very kind.  _ Too _ kind. I do not know how to explain to you how utterly and permanently flawed I am as a human. It would be a grand waste of time for someone to try and love me.” Nagito also laid down, on the other side of the bed. “The only worthwhile thing someone could do with me would be sex, and unfortunately for you, you know me well enough that you’d have to take on my baggage too, so it would be hardly worth it.” 

“That’s not true.” Hajime shook his head. “Yeah, you’re hot-”

“ _ That’s not what I meant. _ ” Nagito sounded desperate, voice cracking slightly. 

“But, you’re a lot better than you think at everything else, too. I wouldn’t be organizing to stay here for months if I didn’t think you were ‘worthwhile’ or whatever.”

“You’ll be sorely let down.” Nagito lamented. 

“Let’s do our date tomorrow.” Hajime shifted to his side to look at Nagito, moving closer in the process. “G’night.” He settled onto the bed right next to Nagito. The white haired man shivered, swallowing nervously at the sleeping figure next to him. He lightly grazed his hand over Hajime’s hair to check he was real.  _ Goodnight, Hajime. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week on "how many times can clem use never have i ever as a plot device in her fics." I'm really sry there's still no sex scene or much background yet, I accidentally got too carried away and overwrote a ton this chap, so it'll be coming in the next update! Also, more horror, I promise!!


	3. Scratches

Hajime woke up slightly dazed in Nagito’s bed the next morning. His shirt had been cleaned and folded neatly and set on Nagito’s table. Nagito was sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed, his body curled around a pillow that separated them. _Oh._ _He’s… He’s really-_ Hajime shook the thought from his head. _I said embarrassing shit to him last night. But I also promised him we’d do our date tonight._ At the movement, Nagito blinked awake, his visible eye slowly turning in Hajime’s direction, as if he was daring him to be real. “... Hi.” Hajime forced out. 

“Hello.” Nagito’s voice was tired, which struck the very core of Hajime’s heart. 

“Sorry, for uh, crashing here last night. I think I had more to drink than I thought.” Hajime stood up from the bed, suddenly aware he was shirtless. He looked down. “Oh.” 

“It’s alright, Hajime. I don’t like sleeping alone, anyway.” Nagito rubbed his eyes and sat up. “I should apologize, I should have helped you to your room.” Nagito frowned. “Although I suppose you fell asleep fairly fast and I don’t think I’d be able to lift you.”

“Yeah, er, don’t try.” He was positive he was heavier than Nagito and not confident in the odds that Nagito was stronger than he looked. Hajime took his shirt from Nagito’s table and put it back on, taking a moment to button it up. Nagito watched him until quickly blinking and looking away, like he’d just realized he was watching in the first place. From the nightstand, Hajime’s phone buzzed and he took a quick look at it. It was Kokichi, asking him if he was awake. Somehow, Nagito seemed to guess the contents of the text and stood up from the bed.

“I should get to work on breakfast. Everyone should at least get something to drink if they’re still as sick as they were last night.”

“You can’t be the only one that’s not hungover.”

“I’d hope not. We didn’t have very much to drink last night.” Nagito was rummaging through his drawers.  _ Okay, I  _ know _ that a lot of us are probably lightweights. Especially Kokichi and Shuichi. But… We really did have a lot to drink. Nagito just keeps surprising me.  _ He watched Nagito pick out a shirt and a pair of pants. They looked at each other for a moment, Nagito clearly trying to communicate something with the glance. “Excuse me Hajime.” He finally mumbled.  _ Oh. Oh! He’s trying to change and I’m sitting here staring at him like a weirdo.  _

“S-sorry.” Hajime turned around. There was a beat of silence. 

“Hajime,” Another beat. “You’ve seen me naked.”

“No! Maybe! Only a little-” Hajime could feel the blush settling on his face. 

“You’re standing in front of my closet, I just need to grab a sweater.” Nagito clarified and Hajime felt his face burn even hotter. 

“O-oh… right.” He stepped away from the closet next to him and heard Nagito rustle the hangers behind him. 

“I don’t mind if you watch me change, Hajime, besides the fact that my appearance is a highly disappointing-”

“It’s not.”

“Hm.” Nagito made a pointed sound to say he had no intention of internalizing Hajime’s comment. “I meant that you don’t have to stare at my wall for the next five minutes.”

Hajime didn’t respond, just waited a second, hoping the color in his face would drain slightly and then turned back around. Nagito had neatly set his outfit on the bed and was pulling down his pants and trading them for the jeans he’d folded on his bed. Hajime caught himself staring at two delicate scars on Nagito’s thighs. The camera in his porn videos hadn’t been high quality enough to even pick them up, they were so light against Nagito’s skin. Nagito glanced over and followed his gaze. “They’re from the second night I lived here.” He pulled his jeans over the scars, hiding them. 

“What happened?”

Silence hung in the air for a brief moment. “Something scratched me.” There was something pointed in Nagito’s voice. “Maybe it was an animal?” His eyes were sad. 

“Maybe.” Hajime realized briefly what the scratches were, but decided it wasn’t his place to dig too much about them. “You should… you should tell Shuichi.” He faltered slightly, but didn’t elaborate. 

“I believe Shuichi has them, too.” Nagito mused, pulling his sweater over his shirt and heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. “If anything, I’m surprised you don’t.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I’m not really sure.” Nagito sounded like he genuinely didn’t know. “I should get going so I can make breakfast.”

“Can I come with?” Hajime spoke without meaning to. They both looked at each other, slightly surprised. 

“It will be dreadfully boring, but there’s nothing I can do to stop you.” Nagito shrugged. 

* * *

Making breakfast with Nagito was decidedly  _ not _ boring. If anything, Hajime spent most of the time wondering how Nagito had ever handled doing all of the cooking himself when he seemed to get overwhelmed by every slight mishap.  _ In his defense, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much go wrong while someone cooks.  _ “Here.” Hajime took a step closer. Nagito was too fed up with the cooking to object and stepped aside, letting Hajime have a turn at the stove. Hajime continued the slices of ham that had been sitting on the stove. 

“I’ll set the tables, if you’re alright here alone.” Nagito picked up the place settings, but hesitated before leaving. 

“Yeah, you’re fine.” Hajime nodded, starting some eggs on the next burner over.  _ Rooms always seem so quieter when he leaves them.  _ Hajime thought to himself.  _ I guess he’s a talker. Maybe that’s why.  _ Hajime was glad Nagito had decided to set the tables, because he knew he’d never be able to do that. Cooking? Sure. Memorizing the stupid placement of different forks on a table?  _ Yeah no.  _ Hajime heard Nagito reenter the room, but he didn’t look up, as he was busy pouring a bowl of cheese into the scrambled eggs he was making. The cupboard behind him slammed, startling him. “Nagito?” Hajime turned around. 

The room was empty. Hajime blinked slowly, eyes scanning the room with a sudden feeling of fear. “Yes?” Nagito’s voice came from the dining room. 

“S-sorry. I thought I heard you in here.”

“Oh, sorry Hajime.” Nagito went back to setting the tables. Hajime gave one last wary look around the room and then went back to cooking. 

Within a few minutes, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Gundham filed into the dining room, taking a seat at one of the tables. Nagito put everything that had finished cooking onto plates and brought it out. Hajime and Nagito sat down with them. “Are you feeling better this morning, Shuichi?” He asked. 

“Much better.” Shuichi laughed nervously. 

“I’m not.” Kokichi whined, rubbing his temples. 

“I have used a  _ special _ concoction to avoid a hangover-” Gundham started loudly, making Kokichi wince. 

“Dude,  _ shut up. _ ” He groaned, pushing his food around his plate. Shuichi silently placed his glass of water near Kokichi’s, to offer it to him. 

“Shuichi, I wanted to speak with you about something.” Nagito seemed hesitant.  _ Are these about the scars? _ Shuichi nodded for him to continue. “I’m aware that there was an episode of your show where you were scratched by a demon?”

“Season three, episode six.” Kokichi nodded before Shuichi could speak. “Sorry.” He realized how overexcited he’d sounded and shrank back to his hungover sulking. 

“Thank you, Kokichi.” Shuichi smiled. “But, yes, you’re correct. I’ve avoided demonic encounters since then. Why do you ask?”

“I was speaking with Hajime earlier… I… I have a handful of scratches that have turned into scars. I got them soon after moving into this house.” 

“Really?” Shuicih’s eyes lit up. “That’s very compelling evidence… scars?” He tilted his head. “You’re lucky, for most people, they heal almost instantly.” Shuichi took a bite of his food, thinking. “Can you describe them to me?”

“I have two, one scratch on each of my thighs. No matter what I do, they won’t fade. They’re rather unsightly. Do you know of any way to get rid of them?”

“Only two?” Shuichi seemed confused. “That wasn’t the work of a demon. Here, I can show you.” Shuichi first unzipped his hoodie and then lifted up his t-shirt slightly, turning so the table could see the three clear scars on his back. Kokichi suddenly looked much less hungover. “See how there’s three? Demons almost always scratch and knock in threes.” Shuichi explained. 

“It’s to make a mockery of the holy trinity.” Gundham chimed in with his agreement. “However, some believe that non-demonic spirits are able to engage physically with a mortal, so perhaps you were scratched by a spirit? How did its aura seem?”

“It’s aura?” Nagito thought for a moment. “I felt guilty when it happened.”

“Were you scared?”

“Of my own stupidity, maybe. There was an overwhelming feeling that I’d disappointed someone. I felt sudden shame and then the scratches appeared.” Nagito’s eyes were far away.  _ That sounds like mental illness, not a haunting maybe.  _ Hajime didn’t cut in, just leaned back in his chair. 

“That doesn’t sound like a demon. When I got my scratches, I felt like something had stuck needles through every nerve in my body-”

“That’s a beautiful description.” Nagito’s eyes sparkled. 

“Thank you!” Shuichi nodded. “But, what I mean, is that it was terrifying. I’ve never felt so scared in my life before then. I knew that something was evil and that it wanted me to die.”

“No, it was nothing like that for me.” Nagito shook his head. 

“Perhaps it was a spirit, then. Maybe it was trying to gain your attention?”

“Surely it could have found someone more interesting to want the attention of?” Nagito seemed incredulous. 

“It might not have approached you because you were interesting. Maybe it wanted something else from you.” Kokichi stood up as he spoke. “I’m going back to my room. I’ll see everyone later.”

* * *

Later that day, Hajime found his way to Chiaki’s room and knocked on her door quietly. The door opened, but before Hajime could walk in, Ibuki stepped out, still in yesterday’s clothes. “Oh! Hajime! We thought you were Nagito.”

“Um. He’s downstairs.” Hajime blinked. “Can I…?”

“Hey Hajime, you can come in.” Chiaki’s voice came from the room. He nodded a goodbye to Ibuki and stepped in, closing the door behind him. “I haven’t gotten drunk in awhile, Ibuki was helping me with my hangover.” Chiaki explained. “What’s up?”

“Er, nothing really. I just… we hadn’t had a chance to really talk since I found out you would be working on the project with us so I thought I’d stop by.” Hajime shrugged. “Um, I also…”

“Wanted to make sure things weren’t awkward?” Chiaki finished for him, tilting her head.

“Yeah.” Hajime nodded, sighing and sitting down on the other side of her bed. Him and Chiaki had been close in college and their breakup had been easy. Easier for Chiaki, but still easy on both of them. Hajime had dropped out and started writing and when Chiaki got the job at Kokichi’s publishing company, they’d stayed close. But when Hajime’s hours increased and Chiaki switched companies, they’d almost entirely stopped talking. Hajime had always worried that there had been some unspoken bad blood he’d been aware of and since Chiaki had arrived, he could feel it bubbling up and he’d thought it would be better to address it than let it hang in the open until it burst. 

“They’re not. I promise. I really didn’t mean to cut you off, work just got crazy and our schedules were so incompatible and our lifestyles… changed a lot, I guess.” She frowned. “But really, there’s no tension.”

“Okay.” Hajime nodded, feeling slightly better. “Okay, good. You know I’m bad at reading this kinda stuff and I wanted to make sure… I dunno. You get what I mean.”

“Yeah.” Chiaki nodded. “Sorry for surprising you with this, by the way. I meant to get around to telling you, it just never happened. Kokichi called me and told me this new book was important to you and that I might want to be around for it. I still don’t really know what he means by that.” Chiaki shrugged. 

“He’s a bastard.” Hajime groaned. “I… I also came here to talk to you about Nagito.” Hajime sighed, eyes closing in frustration. Chiaki raised an eyebrow. “We’re, uh, we’re going on a date tonight. It’s nothing serious, at least not yet, but I figured Kokichi would make some jokes to get on my nerves about it and I wanted to be candid with you before that happens.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, but… I don’t think that’s why he called me. It felt… I don’t even know. But tell me about Nagito! You haven’t mentioned anyone you’ve dated since we broke up. I only ever find out second hand through Gundham.”

“Er, well… I don’t really date very seriously, so I never thought it was worth it. But Nagito… I’m not sure. He’s definitely interesting. We’ll see how things go.” Hajime was hesitant to share too much because he didn’t even genuinely know how he felt about Nagito. The taller man was definitely attractive and  _ usually _ fun to talk with, but there were strange undercurrents to him that Hajime wasn’t sure he had seen the breadth of yet. 

Hajime and Chiaki talked for the rest of the afternoon, until Chiaki started getting messages from her boss about an intern having questions about one of their graphic design softwares and he left her to deal with it, feeling much better after having spoken with her. Hajime breathed a short sigh of relief and headed back to his room, texting Nagito when he got there. 

**Hajime: What time can u go out tonight?**

**Nagito: Ten pm. I apologize for how late it will be.** Nagito responded almost immediately and Hajime could see the three dots indicating he was typing more. 

**Hajime: its fine lol. see u tonight.**

Hajime put his phone away and opened his laptop, buying two tickets for a horror movie.  _ If he reads my books, he likes horror, right? _ Hajime’s mouse had hovered over a random period piece, but he’d decided he’d be thoroughly bored by it and Nagito seemed like the kind of person who would want to discuss a movie after seeing it.  _ At least with a slasher, I’ll know what’s going on without reading a synopsis afterwards.  _ Hajime’s gaze shifted to his suitcase.  _ Shit. What do I wear?  _ Hajime’s thought caught him by surprise. He’d never put much thought into what he was wearing to a date, before, but…  _ Nagito seems like he’d care. Like it’s probably some etiquette thing that he knows about and ugh. I don’t even know who to ask about that.  _ Hajime googled, “movie date outfit male.” 

“Oh God.” He frowned at the results.  _ If I showed up to the date in half of these, I’d hope Nagito would just turn around, for his own sake.  _ He glanced warily at his phone.  _ Okay… No to Chiaki, because I already told her about Nagito earlier and if I talk about him twice I’ll seem obsessed. Kokichi dresses nicely… Yeah no. I’d rather shoot my foot than be vulnerable to him. Uh…. Oh! _ Hajime’s eyes widened for a moment and he opened Shuichi’s contact on his phone and sent him a quick text. 

A few minutes later, there was a knock at his door. “Hi Ha-”

“Don’t tell Kokichi I asked for help for this  _ please _ .” Hajime closed the door behind Shuichi. 

“Alright.” He nodded. “You need help picking out what to wear to go out with Nagito?” Shuichi confirmed, head tilted. Hajime nodded. “I had no idea you guys were even talking.”

“Yeah, it’s, uh… new.” Hajime nodded again, this time more awkwardly. “He just seems like he’d care about this kind of thing and er… I’m not very good with fashion.”

“Oh, I like clothes!” Shuichi smiled. Shuichi asked all sorts of questions about where and when their date was and helped Hajime sort through the clothes he had with him.  _ I hadn’t realized how many pairs of sweatpants I’d brought with me. Okay. Damn. Did I bring like literally anything else? _ Hajime thought to himself as Shuichi said no to the third pair of sweatpants he retrieved from Hajime’s bag. They finally settled on an outfit after an amount of time Hajime was too embarrassed to admit. “I talked with my crew. We’ll film the episode before we do the rest of my season, so it will be ready for whenever your book is done.”

“I’m not sure how long that will be, I’m sorry.” Hajime frowned apologetically. His books had taken everywhere from four days to a year. 

“It’s okay, don’t rush yourself. Kokichi had a good idea for advertising though.” Shuichi ruffled his own hair. “He thinks we should make a fake leak of the two of us working on the set together to get fans riled up in advance.”

“Oh. God. Yeah, I forgot I’m gonna be on TV.” Hajime blinked. 

“We'll blur your face if you want.”

“Er, yeah. Thank you, that would be great.” Hajime nodded. “I’ve, uh, I haven’t done many tv appearances. I’m gonna be pretty awkward there, fair warning.”

“No worries. That’s what editors are for. Also, filming for TV is nowhere near as nerve wracking as things like livestreams, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to forget that cameras are rolling.” Shuichi looked thoughtful. “I should let you go. It was nice talking to you, Hajime!”

“Thanks, and uh, I owe you one. I’ll see you around.” Hajime smiled awkwardly as Shuichi waved goodbye and left the room. 

* * *

Time passed worryingly quickly after Hajime got dressed. The nervous feeling in his stomach was churning his inside and making him feel slightly nauseous.  _ Why am I so nervous? I’ve talked to Nagito before. It’s not like this is my first date.  _ He put a hand to his head and continued pacing his room, trying to think of how not to act like a total idiot in front of Nagito.  _ How should I get him? Like knock on his door? What if he’s at the desk? Do I just walk up? _

When it reached a few minutes before they were supposed to leave, Hajime braced himself and walked downstairs. Nagito was sitting at the desk, doing a crossword puzzle with a concentrated face. He looked up with a bright smile. “Hajime!” 

“Hi.” Hajime blinked. 

“What’s a two words, ten letter term for ‘obvious at first sight.’” Nagito looked at Hajime like he was certain he knew the answer. 

“‘Prima facie?’” Hajime was surprised to realize he  _ did _ know the answer. 

“Thank you, Hajime. I’ve been thinking about it all day. You’re very smart.”

“It’s a legal term, I just know it from college.” Hajime shook his head, taking a step closer to the desk to look over the puzzle. The words “someone” and “hallway” jumped out to him and a sudden icicle of fear fell down the back of his shirt.  _ They’re common words. It wouldn’t be weird for them to be in a crossword. Calm down.  _ “I got us movie tickets.” He said too quickly for it to sound natural. 

“Lovely!” Either Nagito didn’t notice the awkwardness in Hajime’s voice or he had enough mercy not to point it out. 

“My car isn’t ready until tomorrow, so we’ll have to take yours. Sorry.”

“That’s all right. I’m parked in the back of the building.” Nagito stood up from the desk, stretching briefly while Hajime tried very desperately not to stare at the strip of his stomach that appeared under his shirt. 

They walked to Nagito’s car and he drove them to the theatre. It was a small theatre, with those old-fashion uncomfortable seats, but Hajime didn’t pay attention to them. “What other legal terms do you know?” Nagito broke the delicate silence of the car. 

“Erm. Not many. I’m not great at memorizing. I just remember the ones that sound funny, to be honest. Like, uhh… a ‘wobbler.’ That’s a crime that’s like, in the gray area between a felony and a misdemeanor. Like, if you get caught driving under the influence, that can be a felony, but sometimes, depending on the situation, the judge will rule it differently.” 

“Hm.” Nagito thought on that for a moment, eyes trained on the road. “Have you ever committed a crime, Hajime?”

“No?”  _ What? _ “Is this, like… a first-date test or something?”

“No. It wouldn’t change my opinion of you if you had. I was just trying to make conversation. Surely you’ve committed  _ some _ crime in your life.”

“Er…” Hajime hesitated. “I mean, I speed sometimes. I got drunk a lot in high school. I dunno? But, like I said in never have I ever, I’ve never been arrested or anything if that’s what you’re trying to ask.”

“I wish I would’ve broken the law more when I was younger. It would have been nice at the time to know that there are really very few consequences for what you do at that age.” Nagito’s voice had a tone in it that Hajime wasn’t sure he’d heard before. “I even waited until I was eighteen to start making porn.”

“That’s, uh… that’s a good thing I think.” Hajime blinked, unsure how to respond. “How did you even get started in that?”

Nagito let out a single laugh. It was a surprisingly nice sound, not holding any perceptible bitterness. “My senior year of high school, a boy I was sleeping with asked for pictures. I’ve never felt a sense of shame or embarrassment around sex, so it didn’t bother me. I already had a bit of a reputation in high school, so if the photo got around, it wouldn’t affect me very deeply. In college, I met many more men. I started taking videos with them. I was careful to not show my face in public videos, because I didn’t want to lose out on a grad school offer or a grant. When I had to leave college, I started posting them. I still don’t show my face, for fear that my videos could be linked to the B&B, but… it’s fun for me, so I do it.”

“It’s fun for you?”

“Mm.” Nagito nodded. “I’m not ashamed of sex, like I said, but… there is psychologically more to sex than just the act or the social rammifications of it.” Nagito paused for a brief moment, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to continue. Hajime stayed silent, hoping he would. “There’s vulnerability. I am disgusted by my own body, but the thought of others seeing me and being attracted to me arouses me. I’m reaffirmed by their praise, but it makes me feel even more revolted with myself. I can’t deny that I’m aroused by my own self hatred, either.” Nagito had parked in the theatre parking lot, but Hajime hadn’t noticed. 

“You shouldn’t be disgusted of your-”

“We’re here, Hajime.” He smiled cheerfully, cutting him off.  _ It was worth a shot, at least.  _ Hajime sighed and got out of the car. “What movie are we seeing?”

“I just chose the only horror movie playing. I figured that if you liked my books, you’re probably a horror fan.” 

“I do enjoy horror movies.” Nagito’s eyes scanned the front of the theatre for the poster for the movie they were seeing. 

* * *

The movie was a short, gore-filled slasher that Hajime didn’t take too much from. It was enjoyable, but not groundbreaking. If anything, it was a chance to watch Nagito without feeling weird. Nagito watched the entire movie with a neutral face, except for a few of the intense scenes, in which he squeezed Hajime’s hand. Hajime liked to think his quickening heart rate was from the action on screen, not the feeling of Nagito’s fingers wrapped around his own. During the very gratuitous sex scene, he pretended to be incredibly interested in his popcorn. Nagito watched it with his ever-neutral face. 

When the movie got out, the lobby of the theatre was mostly empty. Hajime took Nagito’s hand, lacing his fingers through the other man’s and froze.  _ Wait. Did I just do that? Like instinctively? Oh God, that’s really embarrassing.  _ Nagito looked down at their hands, the corners of his mouth perking up, but he didn’t say anything. “Are you hungry? Is anywhere still open?” Hajime tried to distract from his accidental hand-holding. 

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah.”  _ I haven’t eaten since breakfast this morning ‘cause I was so nervous about the date.  _

“There’s fast food and pizza delivery.” Nagito said in an apologetic tone. Hajime realized quickly that pizza delivery meant Nagito would still have to wash their plates, so he settled on the closest fast food restaurant. They ordered and sat in the farthest booth, near the window.

“So you said you wanted to be a counselor, right?”

“Yes.” Nagito smiled wistfully. “I was going to specialize in grief and loss counseling. Although maybe it’s a good thing I had to drop out. I liked statistics and biopsychology, but many of my other major requirements were chores for me.” He shrugged gently. “Your publisher’s very interesting.” He changed the subject.

“Interesting is one word for him.” Hajime laughed. “Sorry if he’s been a pain, I can talk to him.”

“No, no. I don’t think I understand what he’s saying most of the time, but that’s my own incompetence, not him. He’s been especially good with Shuichi. I haven’t seen Shuichi talk so much in the entire rest of his stay.”

“Kokichi… definitely has an… interest in Shuichi.” Hajime said slowly. 

“We played cards today while I was at the desk.” Nagito added.

“Really?” Hajime couldn’t hide the hint of surprise in his voice.  _ The only time Kokichi’s ever been friendly to people is to get something from them, but there’s literally nothing he could get from Nagito… Maybe he was using it as an excuse to slack off? _

“He said it would probably be lonely at the desk alone. I tried to tell him it’s not, but he insisted on staying for a while. We played blackjack and king’s corner.”

“You should teach me, I don’t know many card games. Knowing blackjack would probably be cool. I’d be like James Bond or whatever.”

“That would be very fun, Hajime!” Nagito’s eyes sparkled and he clapped his hands together. 

“Then we’d have something to do besides get drunk if another storm comes around.” Hajime said, more for himself than Nagito. The other man still nodded in agreement.  _ Oh. Yeah. The never have I ever game.  _ “Um, speaking of that night-”

“I’m not comfortable sharing that right now.” Nagito interjected. 

“What.”

“I assumed you were going to ask me about my answers.” Nagito mumbled.  _ Oh right, the having sex for money thing. I am kinda curious about that.  _

“No, sorry. I was gonna apologize for saying stupid stuff when I went back to your room that night. And for crashing without asking or anything.” Hajime rubbed the back of his neck. “It was kind of an asshole move, sorry.”

“It was no bother. Like I said, I despise sleeping alone. It was nice having someone in the bed with me.” Nagito waved his hand over his fries. “Did the stain come out of your shirt?”

“Yeah, thank you.” Hajime watched a slight blush settle on Nagito’s cheeks, though he wasn’t sure why. 

The rest of the night went by mostly smoothly. Nagito was difficult to keep a conversation with, but it was still much easier than Hajime had braced himself for. He even got Nagito to laugh a few times over their meal, which felt like an accomplishment on its own. He realized that Nagito talked a lot, but most of what he said was phrased and spun in strange directions with mottled words that Hajime had to try to decode as fast as he could before Nagito moved onto the next sentence. When they had both finished their dinners and the car had parked itself behind the B&B again, Hajime realized he didn’t want to finish the night yet. 

They walked into the building and up the stairs to the hall that sat between both of their rooms. There was a moment of silence as they both looked between each other and their doors. “Do, um… Do you wanna come over?” Hajime felt foolish asking, when not only was his room only a few feet from Nagito’s, but it was also technically Nagito’s room in the first place. But more than that, he was nervous Nagito wouldn’t ask and the part of him that wanted to spend more time with Nagito was stronger than the part of him that was nervous about seeming awkward. Nagito nodded silently and followed Hajime into his room. When they were both inside, Hajime closed the door behind them and turned around. “Do you-”

Hajime’s words were cut off by Nagito’s lips. He kissed back quickly, wrapping one of his arms around Nagito’s back to bring him closer. Nagito’s hands were in his hair and on the back of his neck, which he knew was probably hot to the touch. Nagito was still a bitey kisser, but definitely less messy than their first kiss. 

Hajime pulled away as Nagito slipped his sweater off, his white undershirt catching the moonlight slightly. Hajime wanted to turn the lights on, but he wasn’t sure Nagito would like that, so he didn’t. The light from outside was bright enough to keep the room visible, at least. Hajime started unbuttoning his own shirt, hands faltering a few times at the first button as he cringed. “You’re nervous.” Nagito sounded surprised, watching his hands shake.

“It’s… It’s been a bit.” Hajime swallowed, hoping his voice sounded less nervous than he looked. Nagito smiled slightly. 

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

“A-ah.” Hajime finished unbuttoning his shirt, still feeling awkward as he stared at Nagito, half undressed and very anxious. Nagito’s eyes were fixed on his chest, a thin hand settling on the space between his shoulder and the dip in his waist. Hajime shivered, both at the cold touch of Nagito’s hands and at the feeling of contact. 

“Sorry, my hands are probably cold.” Nagito started to pull his hand away, but Hajime snaked out a hand and caught his wrist, holding it where it was. 

“It wasn’t a bad shiver.” His voice was more serious, less nervous now that he was distracted. Nagito’s eyes narrowed, a new glint in them. Hajime kissed him again, resting a hand on the back of Nagito’s head, making him curl into Hajime more. Nagito stepped closer and closer until Hajime could feel the bed hitting the backs of his knees to keep balance. Nagito unzipped Hajime’s pants, before moving to his own. Hajime finished pulling his pants down, and threw them into the pile of sweatpants from earlier. Somehow in that time, Nagito had laid his own pants neatly on the side of the bed. Hajime reached for Nagito’s shirt, but was met with a hand stopping him. 

“Can I leave it on?” Nagito was watching him with a genuine stare that told him if he asked Nagito to take it off, he would. 

“Yeah, of course. Sorry.” Hajime wanted to say  _ hey please tell me if anything makes you uncomfortable or if you don’t want to do something, ‘cause we’re both shit at reading hints and you make me really nervous ‘cause you’re hot.  _ But instead what came out was a jumbled, incomprehensible mumble. Nagito seemed to get the jist of it, anyway. He frowned slightly and knelt down in front of Hajime, who was still sitting on the bed, supporting himself with his elbows. The sight of Nagito kneeling in front of him was enough to make Hajime’s already half-hard dick jump. Nagito pulled down his boxers and the cool air of the room on his suddenly exposed skin made goosebumps creep up and down his arms. Nagito looked up at him for a moment and Hajime hesitated. “A-are you okay with this?” He asked suddenly. 

“What is ‘this’?” Nagito’s eyes narrowed.

“Um.” Hajime blinked. “Not to be, uh… presumptuous. But, y’know…” He made a vague hand motion. “Sucking my dick?”

“I’m not scared of sucking dick. I’ve done it before.” Nagito laughed lightly. 

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to be okay doing it to me. I dunno.” Hajime wanted to punch himself for making the perfect moment with Nagito into a conversational mess. Hajime didn’t notice his words getting through to Nagito for once, his light eyebrows furrowing slightly. 

“Do you want me to?”

“Y-yes! A lot! I just wanted to make sure you were-  _ okay- _ ” Hajime’s sentence was cut short by the feeling of a mouth around his dick. Luckily, Nagito was much less toothy when it came to blowjobs. While he hadn’t been a necessarily skilled kisser, Nagito was undeniably talented with his mouth. One of Nagito’s hands rested on Hajime’s thigh while the other went to work with his mouth. Hajime brought one of the hands supporting himself to his mouth, trying to stop himself from making a noise he’d be embarrassed of.  _ I’m not gonna last long. Shit.  _ Hajime’s other hand gripped the bedding tightly, curling into a fist. “You’re,  _ fuck _ , you’re really good at this, Nagito.” He breathed. Nagito didn’t take his mouth away to respond, but a small smile was clear in his eyes. 

_ Shit.  _ Hajime could feel his breath heaving through him, all of his nerves somehow more alert.  _ Okay, if blowjobs always felt this good I wouldn’t have been so stingy with hooking up with people. Fuck. Okay.  _ Nagito changed his pace, moving faster. Hajime’s hand knotted itself in Nagito’s hair, gripping lightly. The hand on his thigh tightened its grip, so he pulled harder. The hand on his thigh disappeared somewhere beneath him. His hips surprised him, bucking harshly into Nagito’s mouth, making Nagito’s eyes water at the edges of his long lashes. “Sorry,  _ ah _ , sorry-” Hajime started, but Nagito closed his eyes and changed his pace again to take Hajime as deep as he’d been bucking.  _ Does he just…? Not have a gag reflex? How am I going to return the favor?  _ Slight anxiety was creeping at the back of his mind, but Hajime couldn’t hear it over the rest of his body. “Nagito, I- ah, Nagito I’m gonna cum-” Hajime breathed harshly.  _ I’m gonna seem like a joke to him, I lasted like five minutes. God.  _

Nagito made eye contact with him and continued. Hajime gripped Nagito’s hair harder than he meant to and the other man went slack in his hands. Hajime fucked into Nagito’s mouth until he came, coming back to his senses sooner than he wanted to. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, eyes wide and heartbeat tangible. He finally dared to look down between his knees at Nagito, who was panting quietly, eyes closed. As if he could feel Hajime’s eyes on him, Nagito opened his eyes, green-gray, clear and full of an emotion Hajime couldn’t read. Hajime reached down and pulled Nagito onto the bed with him. Hajime looked down at him, a soft  _ oh _ settling on his lips as he realized where Nagito’s hand had disappeared to during the blowjob.  _ Did he think I wasn’t going to give him his turn? _

“You… you don’t have to… I could’ve…” Hajime stumbled over his words, still in an orgasmic daze. Nagito just watched him falter, face still unreadable. “Next time. Next time, I’ll do it -unless you prefer to do it yourself, but-”

“‘Next time?’” Nagito echoed, finally speaking. 

“You don’t wanna go out again?” Hajime tried to hide the very obviously hurt tone in his voice.

“No, I would like that.” Nagito ran a hand through his hair, chewing on his bottom lip. “You must forgive me, Hajime, I have a habit of making assumptions.”

“Assumptions?”

“I’d assumed you were simply too polite to just ask for sex.” The hand in Nagito’s hair fell onto the bed under him. 

“Nagito.” Hajime didn’t even know where to start. “I… I told you I want a relationship with you. I-I’ve set it up so I’ll be here for months. I’m not just here to have sex with you. I want to get to know you.”

Nagito made a sound like a broken machine, eyebrows suddenly pointing up. Hajime stood up from the bed, legs working again, and walked to his suitcase. “Do you want to borrow underwear?” Hajime glanced at the messy stain at the front of Nagito’s boxer briefs. “I guess, you live next door, but-”

“I wouldn’t like to take the risk of walking across the hall like this, if that’s alright with you, Hajime.” Nagito raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh. Yeah. That makes sense, sorry.” Hajime dug through his clothes and found a clean pair of underwear, tossing them to Nagito. “Here.” Nagito thanked him and pulled them on, carefully placing his dirty pair on top of his clothes pile in a way that wouldn’t let the mess in them touch the rest of his clothes. Hajime quickly stepped into a new pair of underwear and one of the sweatpants from the sweatpants pile. He grabbed another pair and a sweatshirt for Nagito, walking them over to him. 

“Thank you.” Nagito sounded surprised.  _ Dude, it’s freezing outside, I’m not gonna make you sleep practically naked.  _ His clothes somehow managed to be too big, but too short on Nagito, his sweatpants reaching somewhere vaguely above his ankles.  _ He’s only an inch taller than me, and his leg to body ratio is like 10:1 or something, so I shouldn’t feel short.  _ Hajime felt like Kokichi, trying to justify his height, so he shook the thought from his brain. Nagito picked up his clothes. “I suppose I should-”

“You can stay.” Hajime blurted out. “Um. If you want to.” He watched Nagito set his clothes back down and wasn’t sure if he imagined the ghost of a smile that he saw on Nagito’s lips. He sat down on the bed, scooting to the other side to make room for Nagito, who joined him. He felt the weight of Nagito’s head resting on his shoulder and wrapped an arm him, pulling him closer. 

“Goodnight, Hajime.”

“Goodnight.” Hajime’s words brought a smile to Nagito’s face, but he hid it, burying himself deeper in Hajime’s arms. Hajime fell asleep quickly, but Nagito stayed awake, listening to the sounds of his breathing and the wind outside. When Nagito finally drifted to sleep, it was a calm, comforting sleep. Something he hadn’t felt in a while. Unfortunately, Nagito was a light sleeper. Light enough to hear the sounds of someone in the hallway and light enough to wake up to the sound of something at the foot of the bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait on this chapter; I hope it's alright!! Also I apologize that not much happened in this chapter, I promise the next one will be more eventful, I just needed to get some plot stuff out of the way. And most of all, I am sorry for not getting back to people's comments!!! This week has been really crazy w exams, so I haven't been on ao3 as much as normal, and when I am, I'm usually only on mobile, so it's hard to respond to comments. Please know that even if I haven't responded to your comment, it still makes my day every time I get them and I'm very touched by how much people are enjoying the story so far!!! <3  
> Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a nice day!!! After this week, I don't have any exams for a bit, so I should be able to work more on chapters.


	4. Under the Bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for the nice messages about my exams! I'm now back at home because of corona, so hopefully I'll have much more time to write! :) Please enjoy !

Hajime woke up to screaming, Nagito slapping at his arm, trying to wake him up. He startled and braced himself, throwing a protective hand over Nagito. “What’s wrong?” He looked around the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “What is it?”

“She…” Nagito was at a loss for words, fists clenched tightly around the bedsheets. “She was right there… I… Hajime you have to believe me-”

“Hey,  _ hey _ , calm down. I believe you. What happened?” Hajime tried to make eye contact with Nagito, but his light eyes were bouncing across the room, wide and shaking. “You saw someone in here?” Hajime tried again, hoping that maybe if he offered Nagito more words, he’d calm down and explain. He nodded quickly.

“She was here, Hajime.  _ Her _ . She opened the door-”

“It was locked, you and I have the only keys, right?”

“She opened it.” Nagito shook his head. “She was standing right there. She wanted to kill me, Hajime.” Nagito pointed at the foot of the bed, hand shaking slightly. Hajime swallowed. 

“Okay. Alright.” He slid the blankets down off of him and stood up, flipping the light switch and blinking at the sudden brightness. He walked slowly to where Nagito had pointed and stared at the ground. There was no evidence anyone had been there. “I’m gonna check under the bed, okay?” Hajime looked to Nagito. The white haired man bit his lip. Hajime knelt down on one knee and lifted the bedskirt, peering under and seeing nothing through the shadows. He sighed and turned on his phone flashlight, shining it into the darkness and seeing nothing but what was probably the cleanest under-bed-area he’d ever seen. “You must vacuum a lot.” He mumbled as he stood back up. 

“I-I do.” Nagito blinked in confusion. 

“There’s nothing here. Have…” Hajime hesitated.  _ I don’t want him to feel like I’m saying what he saw wasn’t real. I don’t know how to go about this.  _ “Have you ever struggled with sleep paralysis?”

“When we first moved into the house, yes.” Nagito was taking deep breaths, mouth moving slightly as he counted them, trying to calm himself. “It hasn’t been an issue since then. Especially not when I’m sharing a bed.” 

“Maybe talking about your scars to Shuichi brought some of that back up?” Hajime suggested. “Who did you see?”

“Junko. Junko Enoshima.” Nagito’s eyes were unblinking and staring, like an owl’s. Hajime felt the strange icy sensation in his back that he’d felt when the cabinet had slammed and he found himself looking around the room.  _ That name’s not familiar to me, why am I scared of it? _

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know.” Nagito mumbled. At the look Hajime gave him, he shook his head in defense. “I’m being honest, Hajime. I only know her name.”

“How do you know her name, then?” Hajime tried. 

“I was home alone one night in high school. Someone wrote the name on a chalkboard we have in the kitchen. As soon as I saw it, I felt something terrible, so I called my parents to see who she was. Neither of them claimed to have wrote it. They thought I was joking around, but the name kept appearing. We’d get e-mails from strange accounts, with nothing but her name in it. We’d wake up to it written on random pieces of paper. I don’t know who she is or why she’s here, but…” Nagito trailed off, too nervous to say aloud what he wanted to say. 

“If you’d never seen her and only know her name, then how do you know what she looks like?” 

“She was my sleep paralysis demon. It was always her. I started seeing her in my dreams, in mirrors, even just dark corners when I turned my head fast enough. She was always watching us. Sometimes she was happy, and when I’d see her then, I didn’t feel scared. But when she was angry… it was different. It felt like the world would collapse if I didn’t make her happy again.” Nagito was staring at his hands. “The last time her name appeared, we found a photo in our mailbox of a girl with the name Junko Enoshima printed under it. The girl in the photo was her, Hajime. It felt like being hit by a train. We never were sent anything ever again, but I still saw her.”

“Describe her. If it’s not, y’know-”

“It’s fine.” Nagito was chewing on his lip. Hajime sat back down on the bed, putting an arm around Nagito and bringing him closer in hopes that it would make the other man feel at least marginally less afraid. “She’s beautiful. She’s… She’s so beautiful.” Nagito pulled his knees to his chest. “I remember in grade school, a boy in my class found a video online of a man getting mauled by a tiger. It was disgusting. I’d never seen such a violent death before then. You couldn’t tell by the end of the video which way he was facing anymore because his body was so mangled. But it was beautiful. Tigers are beautiful. The way they move and the look in their eyes when they kill. The human part of me was disturbed by the video, but I still remember thinking ‘I’d be alright if I was killed by a tiger. I’d maybe even welcome it.’ I would be alright being killed by something so beautiful. I was so scared by the video that I wouldn’t go to the zoo again until I was ten and I made my parents check under the bed every night, as if a tiger could fit under it. But they were my favorite animal too.” Nagito sucked in a breath, no longer shaking. “Do you understand what I’m trying to say?” 

“I do.” Hajime said after a long pause.  _ I mean, that’s kinda fucked up but I get it, I think.  _ Nagito smiled a wide and wobbly smile. “Here, I’ll check the door and then we can go back to bed, alright?” Hajime walked to the door, twisting the handle quickly, expecting the resistance of the lock, but it never came. He blinked.  _ I know this was locked. I locked it myself.  _ “Nagito,” He said in the most even voice he could muster. “Did you see where she went?”

“She disappeared.” Nagito’s voice was hollow. “Hajime, it wasn’t sleep paralysis was it?” Nagito sounded defeated. “She was here.” 

“N-no, there’s gotta be an explanation for this.” Hajime backed away from the door, trying to get closer to Nagito. “Nagito, come with me.”

“Where are we going?” Nagito asked as he stood up, linking an arm through Hajime’s as if the shorter man could be some sort of shield. 

“Shuichi’s dealt with this kind of stuff, right? And if it’s someone breaking in, then it would be better for us all to be together.” Hajime led Nagito down the hall towards Shuichi’s room, both of them eyeing every shadow in the hallway. Hajime was surprised at how unafraid Nagito seemed. He was undeniably nervous, but he’d expected Nagito to react more strongly to the idea that his sleep paralysis demon had just potentially unlocked a door.  _ I guess if stuff like this has happened before here, he’s probably used to it. That’s a terrifying thought.  _ Hajime knocked on Shuichi’s door. There was a pause, in which Hajime realized Shuichi was most definitely comfortably asleep because it was 4am. 

“Hi.” Shuichi was very much awake. He seemed nervous and Hajime didn’t understand why until he looked past Shuichi to Kokichi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed with wide eyes.  _ What is he- _

“Shuichi, Hajime and I need your help.” Nagito stepped into the room without asking and closed the door behind him and Hajime. “Whatever is here is angry tonight. We need your help or I’m scared it could hurt someone.” 

“A-alright. Okay. Um, I have some sage, we can do a room cleanse. I can say a prayer, but honestly Gundham is probably better suited for that.”

“I can get him-”

“Wait, why are you here?” Hajime was so bewildered by everything going on, he forgot how to be polite. Shuichi blushed profusely. 

“Shuichi was trying to sleep, I woke him up to ask him questions about his show.”

“At four am?” Hajime raised an eyebrow. 

“Hajime, Shuichi is going to help us.” Nagito reminded him in a terse voice. Hajime blinked, nodding and dropping the topic. Kokichi shot him a glare. 

Kokichi left to get Gundham, and Shuichi came with Hajime and Nagito back to his room. Shuichi checked with Kokichi that he was okay walking alone through the halls, eyes wide with admiration for Kokichi’s bravery.  _ It’s hard to be scared of something you don’t believe in.  _ Hajime bit his tongue. Even he knew there was no place for that and it wouldn’t help any of them. 

“Can you explain what happened?” Shuichi watched Kokichi leave and then shifted his attention to the other two. Nagito explained breathlessly and Shuichi nodded along, looking interested. “Fortunately, unlocking a door isn’t extremely difficult for a spirit to do if they’re powerful, so I don’t think you’re at immediate risk. It was probably very scary, but it also means that she’s not powerful enough to do anything else, or to even remain in her full body apparition when Hajime woke up.” Shuichi sucked in a breath. “But, there are also consequences to this. It’s pretty rare for a spirit to attack someone using physical means as a way to actually harm or kill them beyond just getting their attention. Most feed on you over time.”

“What does that mean?” Hajime examined the dark look on Shuichi’s face.

“They break down your confidence. They haunt you in a way so that you know that they exist but not enough that you can feel confident believing that. They want you to feel crazy. They make your health worse and your stress increase. They do things that could be just chalked up to depression or every day stress and they keep doing it until you’re dead or vulnerable enough to have you do what they want you to.” Shuichi made eye contact with Nagito, who was scratching at his arm, rubbing a small spot until it was raw and red. Hajime reached a hand over, stopping Nagito from drawing blood. “Let’s go.” Shuichi started towards the door. Hajime nodded, taking Nagito’s hand and leading him with them. 

Gundham and Kokichi arrived at the room just after them. “It got really cold in here.” Hajime wrapped an arm around Nagito, hoping to protect his thin frame at least somewhat from the suddenly cold air. Shuichi and Gundham exchanged looks. Shuichi knelt down at the foot of the bed where Junko had appeared and touched the ground, frowning. 

“Something was here.”

“How can you tell?” Hajime tried to look over the bed to see what Shuichi was doing. 

“I don’t want to tell anyone yet. I’m gonna test something.” He stood back up and nodded to Gundham. “You’re not welcome here. You’re not allowed in this home.” Shuichi was staring into the room, looking at something that Hajime wasn’t sure was there. Nagito gripped his hand tighter. “Gundham, can you say a protection prayer?”

Gundham nodded and took a step forward. “Sáncte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in proélio-” He began in a deep and quiet voice. Kokichi was standing beside them, a firm frown set on his face. 

“St. Michael’s prayer?” He whispered quietly to Shuichi.  _ Huh? How does he know that? _

“Any protection prayer will work. As long as you believe it. Doesn’t matter the religion or who you pray to, as long as you believe they can save you.” Shuichi mumbled a response, watching Gundham. 

“And if you don’t believe in anything?” Kokichi raised a purple eyebrow. Shuichi just gave him a long look.

“Well… I guess you just hope that you start believing in something when the time comes.” 

Gundham finished his prayer and turned back to the others. “The room should be cleansed of any lingering spirit. A mortal should stay with Nagito in the event that something happens again.” 

“I’ll stay.”

“Hajime will stay.” Kokichi said at the same time as Hajime. Hajime shot him a look.

“Then I shall retire to my room.” Gundham shoved his hands in his pockets and left without any more of a goodbye. 

“Me too. Goodnight, everyone.” Shuichi waved a goodbye and went to his own room. 

“You know Latin?” Hajime turned to Kokichi before he could leave. 

“I’m full of fun surprises.” Kokichi shrugged. “I’m actually the one that translates all of your books, y’know?”  _ Kokichi, I have met every single one of my translators in person.  _ Hajime fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Goodnight, stay safe.” He said to Nagito and finally the room was quiet when he left. 

“Is he still pissed at me for bringing up the fact that he was in Shuichi’s room?” Hajime scratched his neck at the door Kokichi had just walked through. Nagito sighed lightly. 

“It seems so. I think he was being honest about simply asking Shuichi questions as a fan. His interest in him is surprisingly innocent.” Nagito tilted his head, thinking. 

“I wouldn’t call anything about Kokichi ‘innocent.’” Hajime grumbled. 

* * *

The rest of the night passed without anything too severe happening, but Hajime was still on edge. Nagito’s continuous attempts at conversation for the rest of the night told him he was, too. “One of us could have left the door unlocked.” Nagito murmured. 

“We didn’t.”

“But we could have.” Nagito was curled in a ball on the other side of the bed. 

“We didn’t.” Hajime’s exasperation showed slightly in his voice, so Nagito didn’t ask again. There were a few moments of silence. “Are any of the locks broken?” Hajime finally asked.

“Well… no. I have them checked every month.”

“Every month? Isn’t that a lot?”

“I… I am very strict about the upkeep of this building.” Nagito went stiff. “It’s important to me.” He took a breath but there was a pause before he spoke again. “My parents were not…  _ proactive _ in taking care of the building and it killed them. I don’t want my guests to meet the same fate.”

“And yourself?”

“Hm.” Nagito shrugged. “There are undoubtedly better ways to die than being crushed. I doubt I would wish that even on myself.” 

“Kokichi used to have dreams about getting crushed all the time. His therapist said it was from feeling pressure in his daily life or something.” Hajime stared at the ceiling. He knew he wasn’t carrying the conversation well but he didn’t know where to carry it to. “If you get the locks checked every month, there’s still a chance that mine is broken. It’s almost the 31st, they could have broken since the last inspection.”

“You’re right.” Nagito nodded. “It’s very possible. I’ll call a locksmith in the morning.”

“It  _ is _ the morning. It’s seven am.” Hajime glanced at the sun starting to peek into the window. Nagito groaned. “I’m sure everyone will understand if you skip breakfast for today, just sleep in-”

“No.” Nagito shook his head. “I can’t do that.”

“Nagito.” Hajime wrapped his arms around his still curled form. “Get some sleep.” He rested his head near Nagito’s neck, closing his eyes when Nagito’s wild hair tickled his eyelashes. 

“O-okay.” Nagito mumbled, face turned away from Hajime. 

Three hours later, Hajime carefully removed himself from Nagito’s tangle of limbs and did his best to get dressed as quietly as he could. He crept downstairs and worked on breakfast for everyone.  _ I wonder when the last time he didn’t have to get up early was.  _ Hajime thought to himself as he cooked.  _ That would take a lot to just drop out of college and run this place completely on your own. I wonder why he’s never hired anyone? I guess Nagito doesn’t really seem like a team player.  _ Hajime had been worried the others would be like Nagito and want to sleep in, but Kokichi and Shuichi both filed into the dining room at ten. Chiaki followed shortly after. 

“Hajime?” Shuichi looked confused when he saw Hajime emerge from the kitchen instead of Nagito. 

“Hey. Sorry, I told Nagito to sleep in because of last night.” Hajime set a few plates down. 

“What happened last night?’ Chiaki ran a hand through her bed head. 

“Hajime’s boyfriend thought he saw a ghost.” Kokichi grumbled, looking very tired. 

“Did the protection prayer work for the rest of the night?” Shuichi looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“Er, yeah. We didn’t have any more problems after that.” Hajime didn’t want to break the news to him that looking back, he was 80% sure the ghost had been sleep paralysis and a broken lock. Kokichi shot him a look like he knew exactly what he was thinking. 

* * *

After breakfast, Hajime brought a breakfast up for Nagito. He knocked on his door before entering and then walked in to find Nagito staring at the door with his large eyes. “Here.” Hajime put the breakfast on the nightstand and crouched down to be eye level with Nagito. “How did you sleep?”

“What time is it?” Nagito ignored the question. 

“Eleven thirty.” Hajime checked his phone. Nagito scrambled up, but Hajime put a hand on his chest. “Relax, I took care of breakfast for everyone.”

“No!” Nagito’s voice was tense.  _ Huh? _ Hajime was confused. 

“It was just Kokichi, Shuichi, and Chiaki; it wasn’t a big deal.” Hajime shook his head. “I told you I like cooking, remember? It was fun for me.” As Hajime spoke, Nagito nodded slowly, calming down. 

“I’m sorry I was a burden to you.” He looked genuinely sad. Hajime shook his head vigorously and put a hand on Nagito’s cheek, suddenly freezing in place. “What’s wrong?” Nagito frowned, eyes quickly scanning the room. 

“You’re burning up.” Hajime pressed the back of his hand to Nagito’s forehead and quickly pulled it away. “You’ve gotta have a serious fever. Do you have a thermometer?” Hajime took a step back. 

“Hajime,  _ I’m fine- _ ” Nagito attempted to stand up and immediately fell, Hajime managing to catch him at the last moment before he hit the ground. Without waiting for any objections from Nagito, Hajime picked up the surprisingly light man in front of him and pushed his way into Nagito’s bedroom across the hall, setting him down on the bed. “Hajime, put me down.” Nagito mumbled, but didn’t struggle.

“Where do you keep your thermometer and medication?”

“Drawer on the left.”

“Alright.” Hajime pulled out the bottom left drawer, mind taking a moment to parse what he saw when he opened it. “These are sex toys.” He shut the drawer as fast as he could, looking back to Nagito, who didn’t seem surprised. He reached down and pulled out a handcuff connected to the headboard, holding it up to show Hajime.

“Top left drawer.”

“Why didn’t you specify?” Hajime suddenly felt like he was the one with the fever, face burning. 

“Most people would go for the first drawer. There was no way for me to have known you’d move out of order.” Nagito shrugged. 

“ _ Why take that chance? _ ”

“You have access to videos of me using most of those, it would be hardly beneficial for me to worry about you simply knowing they exist.” Nagito’s words made Hajime wince.  _ Oh this is so awkward. _ Hajime groaned and rummaged through the top drawer until he found a thermometer and a bottle of advil. 

He walked back to Nagito and took his temperature. “You’re lucky. One degree below what you need to go to the ER.” Hajime put the thermometer away, worry clear on his face. “Take these.” He handed two Advil to Nagito, who dry swallowed them obediently. 

“You really don’t need to worry about me, Hajime. It’s just a cold.” Nagito shook his head at Hajime’s expression. “I’m physically weak, so colds and flus always affect me strongly. This isn’t abnormal for me. I’m more worried about the possibility of me giving it to you.” Nagito sighed.

“Don’t be. If it’s just a cold, I can handle it. But you’re  _ sure _ it’s a cold? If we need to take you to the ER-”

“We don’t. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“You probably get so sick from overworking yourself.” Hajime sat on the edge of the bed. “I think today is the first time I’ve seen you not working. And you had a demanding major before you came here. You need to give yourself a break.”

“I’m worthless without work.” Nagito said too quickly for it to be a joke. Hajime didn’t know how to breach that, so he just looked away. 

“Is that, um…” Hajime gestured to a camera sitting on the nightstand. Nagito handed it to him wordlessly. Hajime turned it on and went to the camera roll where a video began playing of Nagito and another man having sex. “You never posted this one.” Hajime didn’t know what else to say.

“My face is partially visible.” Nagito frowned. “I assure you I took it before you asked me on a date.” Nagito suddenly looked up.

“It’s fine, Nagito.” Hajime shook his head. “Can I?” He gestured to the camera. Nagito nodded. “This is a nice camera, it must’ve cost a fortune.” Hajime remembered Chiaki’s brief stint with photography and how hard he’d searched for the right camera for a Christmas gift. 

“It’s payed itself off.” Nagito’s lip quirked up, almost into a smirk. The smile faded slowly and replaced itself with something more serious. “I’ve had it since I inherited my parents’ money. It was one of the first things I bought after…”

“Oh.”  _ ‘Oh.’ Really? That’s all you can think of to say when he brings up his dead parents? _ Hajime pressed his lips together in frustration at himself.

“May I share something with you, Hajime?”

“Uh, yeah. Of course.” Hajime set the camera down carefully. 

“This isn’t my room.”

“Uh… what?” Hajime blinked. “Like… what do you mean?”

“The attic is where my parents always intended for me to live. I’ve since turned it into a suite for guests. Ibuki is staying there now. My parents lived in these rooms.” Nagito looked around. “The ceiling in this room is a different color than the other rooms. Eggshell instead of ivory.” Nagito waited to continue as Hajime stared at the ceiling, wondering how Nagito had ever expected him to notice such a thing. “This ceiling collapsed and killed my parents. When I had it replaced, they couldn’t find an exact match to the others. I sleep in here in the hopes that if the ceiling ever does collapse again, that it would kill me. That I could be with my parents and they’d forgive me.”

“Nagito, I’m sure they forgive you. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I appreciate the gesture, Hajime, but you don’t know me well enough to make assumptions about me.” Nagito’s voice was suddenly cold, green eyes pointed and glinting. 

“Alright, sorry, I was just trying to help.” Hajime put his hands up, feeling defensive. 

“Don’t try to help.”

“Nagito, I wasn’t trying to insult you-  _ what are you doing? _ ” 

“Proving a point.” Nagito had lifted off the sweatshirt Hajime had lended him and was sitting shirtless in the bed. “You’ve seen what’s on my legs.” He stretched his arms out in front of Hajime, bruises and small marks scattered randomly across them, one large scar on his stomach standing out against the others.  _ Where did he- _ “A perfectly fine candle holder fell on me in the dining room.” He gestured to a small burn. “Here’s the kettle burn from when we met.” Another burn was next to it. “I wake up almost every morning with bruises and I get them so easily that I always have them.” Nagito pointed to a handful of bruises on his arms and then to a series of regular cuts. “I tried knife play once.”

“You’re… full of surprises.” Hajime raised his eyebrows. “What’s this from?” He gestured to the large scar on Nagito’s stomach.

“I crashed my car into a metal playset when I was in college. One of the bars went through the windshield and cut me.”

“Nagito, I’m… I’m sorry about all of these but I don’t get the point you’re trying to make.” Hajime sighed, taking ahold of one of Nagito’s hands with both of his. Nagito shut his eyes and didn’t open them for what felt like a full minute.  _ Hajime doesn’t understand.  _ Nagito’s mind was reeling.  _ How does he not understand that anything around me will crumble? I don’t want that for him. If it is Junko, or a curse, or just bad luck, it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t made to be looked after. I’ve had all of this sorted out for years, perfectly balancing good and bad and then suddenly he upsets all of the scales. _

“Whether you believe it is supernatural or not, I am not someone that can be saved, Hajime. I am not someone it will benefit you to be around. I’m trying to tell you not to help.” Nagito gripped Hajime tighter. “You’re scaring me.” Nagito’s eyes were far away, his expression almost bored. “There have been so many special people who have stayed here and there have been so many men who have stayed here because of sex-”

“I’m not just here for sex, we talked about this-” Hajime cut in.

“I know!” Nagito’s eyes went wide. “None of them have wanted to stay, so why do you?” Nagito recoiled from his touch, leaving an empty feeling in Hajime’s palms. “Do I remind you of someone? I would be useless to commit to, so I’m as inaccessible as Chiaki? I play mind games with you but I’m not as outwardly rude as Kokichi-”

“Nagito.” Hajime cut him off, frustration seeping through his voice. “I would literally rather get scurvy than go out with Kokichi. I’m not dating you because you remind me of him.” He put a hand to his head. “Who told you about Chiaki?”

“Kokichi.”

“Figures. Listen,” Hajime straightened up, doing his best to maintain eye contact with Nagito. “I don’t really know why I like you. I haven’t liked anyone besides  _ maybe _ Chiaki years and years ago. You’re going out of your way to distance us and that’s fine, but it’s not going to stop me unless I think that you don’t want this. I’m sorry your life has sucked and all that, but that doesn’t mean you’re not capable of a relationship. Let’s just give this a try and see where it goes, okay?”

“I-I can’t have someone taking care of me.”

“Then take care of me back and we’re even.” Hajime shrugged. Nagito was chewing on his lip. Hajime sighed and put a hand out, grazing his thumb over Nagito’s lip to stop him. “We good?” He pressed the rest of his palm to Nagito’s face, feeling the heat of his fever. Nagito nodded quickly. “Good.”

* * *

“What’s wrong?” Hajime asked Shuichi over the takeout they’d all ordered together for dinner that night. Shuichi was clearly crestfallen. He hadn’t said a word since a phone call he got before dinner, even when Kokichi brought up every one of his favorite unsolved crimes. 

“Because of the snowstorms, my cameraman can’t get here. I edit my show on my own, but it’s hard to shoot without my camera guy. Otherwise, we’d be able to start filming tonight. Kokichi’s been helping me with research, so I’m more than ready to start filming.”

“Kokichi’s been helping with ‘research?’” Hajime raised an eyebrow. 

“ _ Yes. _ I have.” Kokichi shot a glare in his direction. 

“Do you have a ‘capturing device?’ As it may be called?” Gundham took a sip from his can of beer. 

“I do! I brought it for vlogging.” Shuichi nodded. “I can technically do it, I went to film school for a year before I did this, but… I can’t host and film.” 

“I took film classes in college.” Nagito looked up. He’d been silent for the entire meal and Hajime was glad to hear him speak. He knew their earlier conversation had technically ended on good terms, but he hadn’t expected tension so early in the relationship. “I’m dreadful at it, but-”

“If you’ve got any experience, that’s good though, right?” Chiaki piped up. 

“We just found a random dude to shoot my concert videos and they did great.” Ibuki offered after her. “If Nagito knows anything about cameras, then it’ll totes be better! Right Chiaki?”

“Right.” Chiaki nodded.

“I’d be more than happy to provide compensation, Nagito-”

“No, no. It’s the least I can do.” Nagito shook his head. “I just apologize in advance for how lackluster my skills will be.”

“It’ll be fine, Nagito. I’m sure you’ll do great. Having you there will make me feel better about being on camera.”

“Really?” Nagito seemed surprised by that. Kokichi looked up, too, but quickly averted his eyes like he wasn’t paying attention.

“Let me know when filming starts so I can help Hajime with what to say.” He pulled his phone out, typing something.

“I think I can speak for myself.”

“Uh huh. ‘Cause all of your public appearances have gone so well.” Kokichi didn’t bother looking up from his phone. Hajime rolled his eyes, turning back to everyone. 

“Should we count on filming tonight, then?”

“Probably tomorrow, actually. We’ll need to get ready to pull an all nighter. And then I’ll have time to get my equipment set up.” Shuichi nodded, running through his mental checklist. “Meet here tomorrow at this time for the first part of filming, then?” He looked around the table. 

“Sounds good.” Hajime nodded. “I’m going to go write for a bit. See you all tomorrow.” He stood up and walked into the kitchen with his plates, washing them off. 

“Hajime, you don’t have to-” Nagito started, but Hajime had already put the dishes in the dishwasher. “When everyone’s done with dinner, I’ll be free.” He said slowly, meeting Hajime’s gaze. “Should I meet you in your room?”

“Um. Yeah. Yeah.” Hajime felt his face grow hot. “Um, I’ll check on your fever. Make sure you’re not getting worse.”

“Alright Hajime.” Nagito gave him a long look and then retreated back to the dining room with everyone else.  _ I know he doesn’t think we’ll work and that he’s unloveable or whatever, but… I’m gonna do whatever I can to make this work ‘cause I’ve never felt this way about anyone, before. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a super stressful time for people, so I hope you're all doing well. I'll continue updating, since my state is on lockdown so I can't do anything, anyway, haha. Also, I'm very sorry for how short chapters have been! I've only been doing 10 pages instead of my usual 14, so I'm aware there's probably a lot less excitement and plot in each one and I apologize for that. I hope they are still okay to read! Thank you so much for reading and have a nice night <3


	5. Rose silk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just a head's up that this chapter contains both a long sex scene and some content that could be potentially triggering for people. Also, I know none of you are here for Ouma but he gets so much screentime. I'm really sorry! I'm also very sorry for the long delay in both posting this chapter and responding to comments from last chapter! My online courses have been very intense, so I haven't had much free time. I hope you enjoy!!
> 
> *TWs THAT CONTAIN SPOILERS* Later in the chapter, there will be mentions of drug use and overdosing, as well as a sexually-themed nightmare. The sex scene at the beginning of the chapter is just a pretty vanilla scene, it's just like 5 pages long so if people wanna skip it, go ahead!!!

Hajime’s face was still hot when he got to his room, his skin flushing a deep red he was glad none of the others had seen. He sat down at the desk, but no words came from his fingers, only hesitation.  _ It’ll be a miracle if I finish this book in time.  _ Hjime sighed.  _ But- I have definitely worked miracles before with word counts and time limits. I can do this if I focus.  _ Hajime stared at the doc for awhile before finally beginning to type, feeling the familiar feeling of the keys clicking under his hands. Five pages later, there was a knock at the door. 

“Hajime?” Nagito’s voice came through and Hajime jumped slightly, forgetting he had mentioned coming up. 

“O-oh, come in, sorry.” Hajime heard the door creak open as he stood up. 

“The locksmith called to say they recalled that specific line of doorknobs, so I should replace it without him coming over.” Nagito gestured to Hajime’s door. “You were right. The lock was broken.”

“That’s… that’s reassuring.”

“Yes.” Nagito didn’t look reassured. “I apologize that your lock isn’t working. I can offer you a different room, however… besides mine, this room has the best sound insulation. I can imagine that would be useful.” Nagito tilted his head. “Unless of course, you’d be alright with the others hearing-”

“No-”

“-you type all night.” Nagito smiled lightly, telling Hajime he knew  _ exactly _ what sort of misunderstanding his words would inflict on him. “Are you writing right now?” Nagito nodded at the computer on Hajime’s desk. 

“Yeah. It’s about time for a break, though. Back when I liked writing, I could easily pump out thirty pages in one sitting. I wrote five today and I’m already stuck.” Hajime stretched and then fell onto the bed on his back, staring up at Nagito’s face. Watching him made Hajime feel like he could almost see the wheels turning in his brain, sorting through information and trying to land on the right words, even if they were as simple as,

“You don’t enjoy it anymore?” Nagito’s eyes weren’t accusatory, just large and curious. Nagito confused Hajime for many reasons but one of the most predominant was Nagito’s relationship with his awkwardness. In some moments, Hajime felt like a floundering, virginal schoolboy trying to keep up with Nagito’s innuendos and subtle words, and other times he felt the ever constricting wall of awkwardness that was built impenetrably around Nagito. The way he hesitated before he spoke, and the nervous look in his eyes that came just before Hajime would respond to him, as if he was always scared he’d said something wrong. 

“No. Not really, to be honest. These days I mostly feel like I’m just doing it so Kokichi can keep a paycheck.”

“You hate Kokichi.” Nagito frowned.

“Yeah. A lot.”

“So you must do it for more than just him.” Nagito leaned over Hajime, looking into his eyes. “Are you afraid of letting others down?”

“No, well- maybe.” Hajime chewed on his lip, thinking. “I think… and this will sound kinda bad, but I think I like the attention of it. I like so many strangers caring about what I create and who I am. I like feeling like I’m special for it.” Hajime propped himself up on his elbows. “I dunno.”

“I think I understand some semblance of that.” Nagito said quietly. “But I hope you find joy in writing again.”

“Me too.” Hajime mumbled as Nagito stretched out his legs, lying down on the bed next to him. He cracked a grin, eyes travelling up Nagito’s face. “You’ve got a piece of lint in your hair.” He grabbed it, doing his best not to pull Nagito’s hair. He shook it off of his hand and returned his hand to Nagito’s hair. “Your hair’s softer than it looks.”

“I’ve always been terrible at managing it.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant-” Hajime hesitated, his hand stopping when he hit a tangle in the wild mess of Nagito’s hair. “I don’t know what I meant. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Nagito grabbed Hajime’s wrist and pulled his hand through his hair, tearing the tangle without so much as a flinch. 

“Do you always rip out knots in your hair? You’ll ruin it if you do.” Hajime frowned, settling for simply running his hands over the top of Nagito’s hair so he wouldn’t pull it.

“It’s beyond being ruined by split ends, Hajime, but thank you for pretending as though it’s not.” Nagito settled his head into Hajime’s palm, closing his eyes. He almost looked as if he would start purring, like a cat. 

“Well I like your hair.” Hajime’s fingers caught in it, again and he carefully detangled them. Nagito lifted his head and wrapped his slender fingers around Hajime’s, guiding him to grip a section of hair at the back of his head firmly. His face was unreadable, simply looking for whatever reaction Hajime gave. He seemed satisfied with the silent blush on Hajime’s end. “How did… How did you know that you… liked…” Hajime was struggling too much to finish his question. 

“It makes the guilt go away.” Nagito gave an answer that went far deeper than Hajime had expected him to give. “I’m allowed to feel good as long as it hurts.”

“That’s… That’s a lot.” Hajime didn’t know how to unpack Nagito’s words, so he just moved closer to him. 

“I want my pleasure to be accidental. I prefer when things go well for me as a byproduct of them going well for someone else. Or, if need be, they at least happen because someone decided them for me.” Nagito caught his gaze and something flashed in his eyes. “I would only want to feel good if it were something that would make you feel good.”

“I-I don’t want this to be one sided.” Hajime blinked, starting to sit up. Nagito followed his lead, eyes lingering where Hajime’s t-shirt exposed his skin.

“That’s up to you.” Nagito was looking through his lashes.  _ I don’t know if he means that as in I have to want him to feel good for him to be able to, or if he means that he already has those feelings for me, so this can’t be one-sided.  _ Hajime was certain he wouldn’t be able to decipher which one,  _ if it even is anything I can come up with. Knowing Nagito, there’s probably some meaning far beyond what I could think of. _ “You’re thinking?” Nagito seemed confused. Hajime looked back at him. 

“Well yeah. I wanna understand you, Nagito.” Hajime laced his fingers through Nagito’s. The white haired boy frowned deeply, eyebrows knitting together. Hajime leaned forward and kissed him, hoping it would help whatever emotion was bubbling in Nagito. Nagito seemed grateful for the kiss, hands grabbing at Hajime as soon as their lips touched. Nagito understood this much more than he understood the word games he felt the need to play with Hajime. It was a welcome distraction. Hajime felt Nagito’s hands feel their way up the sides of his t-shirt and up to his shoulders. Hajime gripped the back of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. Nagito’s pupils instantly dilated, the stray hands that had been at Hajime’s shoulders quickly moving to explore the territory that had just been made available to them.  _ Okay, I definitely have to forget the face Nagito made when he saw me shirtless ‘cause otherwise I am gonna have an ego about it for the rest of my life.  _

__ _ “ _ You’re muscular for a writer.” Nagito mused. “But you don’t seem like the type who would be interested in fitness.”

“It’s from carrying my publishing company everyday.” Hajime sighed. Nagito smiled, his slightly lopsided grin going straight to Hajime’s heart.  _ And dick.  _ Nagito had changed sometime between dinner and when he arrived at Hajime’s room, trading Hajime’s sweatshirt for a shirt and cardigan. He shrugged off the cardigan, folding it over one of the pillows.  _ He always folds his clothes when he takes them off. It’s cute.  _ Hajime pulled him closer with a hand on the small of Nagito’s back. Nagito leaned into the touch, kissing up Hajime’s neck. His hands were on Hajime’s stomach until they drifted farther down, unbuttoning his pants. “Wait. The lock’s broken, right? Should we be doing this?” Hajime paused, glancing at the door.

Nagito made a sound almost like a whine, which was enough to convince Hajime that risking it was worth it, but Nagito stepped off the bed gracefully. He crouched by the nightstand and opened the bottom drawer, pulling out a door wedge. He knelt by the door and put the door wedge in backwards, like one might do in a hotel room to keep the door from opening. “Is this enough?” He asked Hajime, eyes wide. Hajime just nodded, hoping the other man would come back to bed sooner. Sure enough, Nagito found his way back to the bed, leaning down for another kiss from Hajime. He finished unzipping Hajime’s pants and helped him pull them down. Hajime felt less naked than he thought he would, sitting in just his underwear while Nagito was nearly fully clothed. Nagito shed his own pants and let the palm of his hand drift up Hajime, continuing the friction when Hajime let out a small gasp. “Hajime?” Nagito climbed onto Hajime’s lap and reached past the elastic strap of his underwear. “What would you like?”

“I-I don’t have condoms.” Hajime realized after he spoke that it probably would have been better to preface that with asking Nagito if he was alright with having sex. Nagito smiled, seemingly indifferent. 

“I have them in my room-”

“Wait-” Hajime stopped him from getting up. The thought of Nagito leaving right then, even just for a few minutes, was like torture. Nagito seemed to understand and nodded. 

“Do you have lube?”

Hajime held onto Nagito to make sure the lighter man wouldn’t fall when he leaned over him to rummage through the other drawer of the nightstand and pull out a bottle of lube. He handed it to Nagito, who got off of Hajime’s lap and folded back the comforter, leaving only the white sheet under them. “If you don’t want me to go get a condom, would you want to fuck my thighs?”

“ _ Gahgh- _ ” Hajime made a sound that was nowhere close to any words he could think of. Nagito’s bluntness had startled his brain into not working and he could feel his face flushing hot. Hajime brought a hand to his face, hoping it would cover some of the embarrassing color rising in his cheeks. He nodded. “Sorry. Yeah.” He managed to get two words out.

“My thighs are disappointing at most, but I will do my best to make you feel good.” Nagito said in an apologetic tone. He shed his underwear, watching as Hajime did too, and poured the lube over Hajime’s dick, jerking him off lightly. He straddled Hajime again, pressing his thighs together and wrapping his arms around Hajime’s neck like they were about to slow dance. Nagito’s body rose and fell on Hajime, making Hajime dig his hands into the sheets until they found a better resting place on Nagito’s hips.  _ Faster- _ Hajime’s mind was racing.  _ I need faster.  _ “Apologies Hajime… I… I’m not very strong, you would be better off moving me at your own pace.” His voice was breathless. Hajime nodded, the hands at Nagito’s hips digging in harder and lifting him up and down at a much faster pace. Nagito tightened his thighs, making Hajime swear under his breath.

“Nagito, can I-”

“Yes.” Nagito didn’t wait to hear what Hajime was going to ask. Hajime lifted him up and and turned them around, setting Nagito on all fours and fucking into his thighs at that angle. Nagito was letting out small sounds with every thrust that spurred Hajime on. Their conversation from earlier ran through Hajime’s head and he pressed on Nagito’s back lightly. Nagito flattened, pushing his face into the bed. Hajime ran a hand through Nagito’s hair, starting at the back of his neck and brushing up until he reached where Nagito had had him pull earlier. He gripped it experimentally, not expecting the full body shiver that rattled through Nagito. He pulled and Nagito moaned his name, a sound that activated something in Hajime. He used his grip on Nagito’s hair as a hold and fucked harder, feeling himself growing closer.

“Where- where do you want me to cum?” Hajime breathed, lifting Nagito’s head out of the bed to hear him better.

“Wherever you prefer.” Nagito’s face was pink from either arousal or exertion.

“Anywhere?” Hajime checked, eyes wide. Nagito nodded, eyes watching Hajime over his shoulder. His thighs suddenly let go of their grip, no longer tight enough to provide the friction Hajime needed to go over the edge he was fast approaching. He let out a whine of protest as Nagito straightened up, away from his body. Before he could get any words out, however, the other man knelt in front of him, jerking him off at the same speed they’d been at, before. “Nagito-” He started, but cut himself off, watching Nagito grip his bangs with his free hand and push them back off his face.  _ He’s gonna let me cum on his face. Fuck.  _ Hajime covered his own mouth to stop himself from letting out a sound at the realization.  _ That’s been, like, wayy out of bounds with everyone I’ve been with, I-  _ Hajime hissed in a breath, watching Nagito’s knuckles turn white with the grip he had on his hair. “ _ Nagito _ -” There was much more urgency this time when he gasped Nagito’s name, vision growing blurry. Hajime fell less than a second later, the growing pleasure in his gut spreading through every nerve in his body. 

When Hajime came back to his senses, all he felt at first was his heart pounding in his chest, until he looked down at Nagito, cheeks flushed and cum splattered across his face. The realization of what had just occurred finally hit Hajime and he flinched. “Holy shit Nagito, I’m so sorry. That was probably demeaning, I shouldn’t have-”

“I said it was alright.” Nagito reached for a tissue. “May I?” He gestured to his face and it took Hajime a handful of seconds to realize what he was asking. 

“Please don’t ask-”

“It disgusts you?”

“ _ No _ ! I-I… I feel bad that you feel the need to ask. I don’t control you.” Hajime could feel his eyebrows knitting up in concern. 

“You could control me.”

“ _ Please _ don’t say that.” Hajime took another tissue from the box and cleaned Nagito’s face for him, pressing his palm to his cheek in what he hoped was an affectionate gesture. Nagito stood up. “Where are you going?” Hajime asked, nervous Nagito was upset. 

“I have to shower.” There was no malice in his voice, just urgency. “I need to shower after.” Nagito explained. 

“Can I come with?” Hajime stood up, too. Nagito hesitated, scanning Hajime’s face as if he was looking for something. “I… I promised you I’d give you your turn last time.” He looked away. 

“You really don’t have to.” Nagito turned on the shower and turned back to Hajime, who had followed him the few feet to the bathroom.

“I mean. No one has to do anything. We do it ‘cause we want to.”

“Poetic.” Nagito’s voice was hiding something, like some sort of inside joke with an invisible entity in the room. He checked the shower temperature with his hand and when he seemed satisfied, Nagito shrugged off his t-shirt, his last remaining cover, and stepped into the shower. 

“ _ Fuck! _ ” Hajime had followed him in without thinking and he was pretty sure the water was literally boiling. “You really are a masochist. Jesus.” Hajime rubbed the water up and down his arms, trying to get used to it. Nagito cracked a smile.

“You take cold showers?”

“Well, not  _ boiling _ ones.” Hajime tried to ignore the way the water was hot enough to make his feet feel numb where it pooled near the drain. The water was focused almost entirely on Nagito, who besides turning a dark shade of pink, seemed completely unbothered by it. His wild hair had flattened back, contributing to how suddenly small he seemed. Without his clothes or his wild hair, Nagito reminded Hajime of the popsicle stick bridge his eighth grade science teacher had forced him to make. 

“It’s odd.”

“What?”

“You’re watching me.” Nagito had turned around to look through the small array of soap and shampoo bottles Hajime had in the shower. “I’ve showered with other people but they’re normally preoccupied.” He picked up Hajime’s shampoo. “‘Forest mountain?’ Interesting choice.” 

“What does that mean?”

“You use straight guy shampoo.” 

“It’s cheap and there’s too much happening in the shampoo aisle, so I just get what’s cheap and leave.” Hajime grumbled. “I mean, it goes in your hair for like, a minute.”

“You don’t care about the smell?”

“No? Why would I? Do you?” Hajime felt strangely defensive. Nagito just shrugged. “Here.” He took the shampoo from Nagito, put some in his hand and ran it through Nagito’s hair, feeling it suds up under his fingers. “I can buy a different shampoo for when you come over, if you want.”

“That’s not necessary. I’m sorry for poking fun at you-”

“Don’t apologize. Saying I use straight shampoo isn’t really worth an apology.” Hajime was enjoying the feeling of running his fingers through Nagito’s hair, without the threat of the tangles from earlier. “What do you use?”

“Lavender. I shower at night so it helps me sleep.”

“Do you have sleeping problems?”

“Most nights I don’t have someone over, yes.” Nagito was staring intently at the tile wall, like it was a newspaper or a television screen. Hajime used the moment to let his own eyes wander in a way he felt too nervous to do when Nagito was aware of him. He thought his looks would be misunderstood as sexual ones, or worse, demeaning ones. But truthfully, Hajime just wanted the chance to watch Nagito’s wrists at his sides or the gentle curve where his neck became his shoulders. 

Nagito couldn’t see the tile in front of him at all. His mind was somewhere else, trying to count  _ in-two-three, out-two-three _ in the hopes that his chest would understand and stop catching with every breath. He hoped Hajime couldn’t see the way he was shaking, or that if he could, he’d chalk it up to the heavy steam surrounding them. Hajime’s hands in his hair were so gentle, so forgiving. It was a new sensation and Nagito was too scared to stop him. Not because his normal thoughts of worth were bubbling up, but because he was scared that if Hajime stopped, he wouldn’t get the chance to experience such a feeling again, and he was disgusted with himself for it. He didn’t even notice Hajime pulling his hands away and mumbling something. “What?” Nagito blinked.

“Do you want soap?” Hajime asked as Nagito turned around. “Are… Are you crying?”

“No.” Nagito felt an emotion he didn’t feel often: shame. “I get overwhelmed easily.” He mumbled.

“No you don’t.” Hajime shook his head. “You’re always so on top of things.”

“Not myself.” Nagito had a rare moment of self-clarity, body shaking even more than it had been before. Too many new emotions were swirling in him, drowning him under their pressure. “You were being so gentle. It startled me. I’m not used to not turning such things away.” 

Hajime didn’t know what to say, so he stepped closer to Nagito, wrapping his arms around him. Nagito leaned into him, hearing Hajime’s heart through his chest. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I wanted you to not have to turn me away?” Hajime asked, feeling Nagito nod into him. “Well that’s what I want.” 

Hajime wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. Or which one of them turned it into a kiss that seemed to last just as long. Hajime wasn’t even sure when the kiss turned into him jerking off Nagito and ended with him helping Nagito clean up another mess on his thighs. When they got out of the shower, Hajime picked what looked like the softest towel to hand to Nagito. “I used to have really long hair.” Hajime looked into the mirror at himself. “Like,  _ crazy _ long. Chiaki used to help me dye it black. Took forever.” 

“Why did you cut it?”

“Hated taking care of it. Liked being able to see things when I didn’t have a ponytail band with me. Got sick of people asking me about metal bands.” Hajime sighed towel drying his hair as best as he could before wrapping the towel around his waist. “My parents are strict. I wore a button down and combed my hair every day of high school. I grew it out to spite them in college. I cut it again when I dropped out of school, which was funny ‘cause I was pre-law and it definitely didn’t help me with internships, but I didn’t cut it until I was doing the one job where my appearance doesn’t matter at all.” 

“Many people cut their hair when someone dies.” Nagito was watching Hajime with an even gaze. “Maybe you cut it to grieve your education. Or law. Or whatever you were before writing.” 

“I probably did.” 

“I used to dye my hair, too.” Nagito was changing back into the clothes he’d discarded earlier. “I switched between black and bleached for a few years after my parents’ deaths, when I was still fixing up the B&B. I shower at least once every day, so I dry my hair out too often and I had to redye it so often. I doubt it will ever grow back healthy again.” 

“Well it looks nice.” Hajime tried. Nagito smirked, saying nothing because they both knew what his words would contain. 

* * *

Hajime had put on presentable clothes and met the others in the dining room that evening. Shuichi had a duffel bag of equipment with him and he’d given Nagito an expensive looking camera to hold with a tripod. Ouma walked up to Hajime, hands in his pockets. 

“You’re not funny, so don’t try to be funny. Don’t get visibly scared. All of Shuichi’s top rated episodes with other people are ones where the other person isn’t superstitious. It’s a good dynamic if you keep a straight face and pretend like this stuff doesn’t bother you, okay?” Kokichi was talking quietly, eyes trained on Shuichi and Gundham, who were explaining the camera to Nagito. 

“What if I do get scared?”

“Don’t.” Kokichi snorted. “You have the choice to wear a mask or have your face blurred in editing.”

“Editing.” Hajime followed Kokichi’s gaze to Shuichi. “He looks different.”

“He gets dressed up for episodes. It’s cute.”

“Kokichi!” Shuichi was quickly approaching them. “Your shirt… it’s from my very first merch line. You’ve been a fan that long?” Shuichi seemed touched. Kokichi’s shirt was frayed with uneven, tiny scrawl that was barely legible as the name of Shuichi’s show. 

“Of course.” Kokichi nodded. Hajime bit his tongue to keep from telling Shuichi he’d seen Kokichi Depop it on company time a few months ago. Hajime wandered over to Nagito and Gundham, who were talking about a storm set to hit the area in the next few days. 

“When are we filming?” Hajime asked.

“We can begin now, if you wish.” Gundham offered, nodding to Shuichi. 

“Are you sure you shouldn’t be the one doing this? I mean, you’re the one who’s researched this stuff. All I’ve done is written a few books with your guys’ help, I really don’t know if-”

“We’re gonna do an intro, Hajime.” Kokichi cut off his final attempt to back out of appearing on TV. “Shuichi’ll go over it with you.”

Shuichi talked him through what they were gonna say for the intro, fortunately most of the talking was happening on Shuichi’s side. Years ago, when he’d been pre-law, Hajime had loved talking in front of people. The years of writing alone in his office slowly eroded that little piece of confidence and Hajime was surprised at how camera shy he felt himself being. They filmed the intro without issue and Hajime began helping Shuichi set up his equipment in different rooms. 

“What is all of this?” Hajime gestured to it. 

“Um, well this is a thermal camera. We have a spirit box, here too. This is a motion sensor-” Shuichi explained all of it to Hajime, putting a motion camera in the dining room. He took a step back and admired his work. “Ok, that should be the last of it. Should we go get the others?”

“Sure.” Hajime shrugged. 

They found their way back to the dining room and Shuichi talked through his plans for the episode. Shuichi wanted to try using the spirit box in a few different rooms, while monitoring the cameras he’d set up elsewhere, and end in Hajime’s room, where there had potentially been a sighting already. He explained that they would be staying out Nagito’s room, out of respect.  _ Did Nagito tell him his parents died in there?  _ Hajime wondered, following the rest of them towards the basement cellar, where Shuichi wanted to start. 

“I didn’t even know there was a cellar.”

“I hardly use it.” Nagito shook his head. “It was cleared out years before my parents moved in.” 

“Wait, Nagito, we should probably do a little interview with you about each room. You know the history of the building pretty well, right?”

“Mm.” Nagito hummed an affirmation, handing the camera to Hajime and setting up the tripod. “I only know my own experiences here, however, so I’m not much help with anything besides the history.” He lamented. 

“No, that’s perfect. It was difficult to find more than newspaper clippings on this place when I researched it. Your help will be really valuable, Nagito.” Shuichi made room for Nagito in front of the camera, so they were both in the shot, with their backs to one of the wallpapers walls of the hallway. “I promise this’ll be easy, just say what you know about the cellar and Hajime will record and I’ll ask follow up questions if we need them. Sound alright?” Shuichi asked and at Nagito’s nod, Hajime started the camera. Gundham and Kokichi were watching from a short distance away, Gundham carrying the heavy equipment bag that Kokichi had told Shuichi he’d carry for him earlier. 

“My parents bought this building around fourteen years ago. When we moved in, the cellar had already been cleared of most of its furniture and storage.”

“Why was that?” Shuichi was watching Nagito intently. Hajime found himself also watching Nagito, through the small screen of the video camera. Nagito seemed perfectly comfortable, if not more relaxed than normal, on camera.  _ I guess he has, uh, experience being on film, but… it’s strange. His whole posture and demeanor and everything seems more relaxed.  _

“The owners who lived here before us, their father died after a fall in the cellar and it was a crime scene for a few months. He fell down the stairs to the cellar and broke his neck and skull and died a few days later in the hospital. He told a doctor that he’d been pushed by an intruder in the house and the police investigated it, but never found evidence that someone had entered the home.”

“Did he know anything about the intruder?”

“We spoke with his widow briefly once and she told us that he believed it was a woman.”

“A woman?”

“He said he felt long nails on his back when he was pushed.” Nagito glanced at the door to the cellar. “That’s all I know, I apologize.”

“‘No, that’s great, thank you so much, Nagito.” Shuichi nodded at Hajime to stop filming. “Should we go down? Nagito, will you start filming again?” Shuichi watched Hajime hand off the camera to Nagito. 

They walked into the cellar, where Nagito promptly realized he forgot to tell them that there were no working lights in it. “Of fucking course there’s not.” Kokichi groaned. “No wonder that dude fell, he probably couldn’t see the fucking steps.”

“No, the lights worked back then.” Nagito said simply.

“That’s… that’s… y’know what. Great.” Kokichi sighed. “Glad it was the ghosts. We’ll get better footage.” 

“I have flashlights, they’re just in the bag Gundham’s holding.” Shuichi called out from the darkness. After a few seconds of clanging and rummaging, Gundham passed around flashlights to everyone and Nagito switched to a night vision camera. “Let’s get to the bottom of the stairs and then we’ll start with the spirit box.” Shuichi led them down, his hand wrapped tightly around the railing. Every once and awhile, Hajime’s flashlight would reflect the slight sheen on Shuichi’s black nail polish and he’d stop himself from jumping.  _ I wonder how it always seems to be the people like Shuichi, who are genuinely afraid of this stuff, wrap themselves up in whatever this is. If Kokichi had a show like this, he’d probably never get scared. He’d look a demon in the eye and say it was the window or something.  _ They reached the bottom of the stairs and walked around the basement, scouting a place to film. Shuichi decided on a random corner while Hajime tried to guess where the guy had landed, so he could gingerly avoid stepping on it. Gundham was inspecting a height chart that had been marked onto the wall, while Nagito set up the camera. 

“Kokichi, come here.” He called out to Kokichi, who approached him. Hajime walked over to, a grin starting when he realized what Gundham was doing. 

“Hm… It says ‘age thirteen’ and yet…” Hajime held a hand up to the height markings and another to the top of Kokichi’s head. “That’s a pretty big difference.” He showed the difference to Kokichi, who swatted his hands away. 

“Shut up. Get better jokes.” He scowled and walked away. The momentary laugh distracted Hajime from the fact that he was in a haunted, pitch-black basement where a guy had died and he felt a lot better. 

Nagito started rolling and Shuichi turned on the spirit box. “ _ Jesus _ that is loud. Does it have a volume setting?” Kokichi whined, covering his ears. Shuichi shook his head apologetically. 

“Hajime, do you wanna go first? Or I can, if you prefer.” Shuichi offered. Hajime nodded for Shuichi to go ahead.  _ Fuck, was I supposed to prepare questions or something? _ Shuichi approached the spirit box. “Is there someone down here with us?” There was no response. “Did you fall down here?” A muffled piece of static that was impossible to make out came through. “Did you get that?” Shuichi looked to Hajime.

“No, sorry.” He frowned. Shuichi sighed. “Can you say my name?” Hajime felt stupid asking the air questions. A sound vaguely resembling  _ Hajime _ came through and Shuichi perked up. “How about Shuichi?” Sure enough, the spirit box echoed out Shuichi’s name in its robotic tone. “Gundham?” Hajime didn’t know what else to ask it. The spirit box fell back to its regular blaring static. 

“Is there only one of you in this house?” Shuichi asked, crouching down to be closer to it. Hajime wasn’t sure how he could stand the noise. No response. “Did you used to live here?” He tried again, and was greeted with a  _ no _ . There was a pause as Shuichi realized what it was saying. “Did you push the man who lived here?”  _ Yes.  _ It’s answer rang out. The room went quiet as a chill settled on all of them. “What was his name?” No answer again. 

“It’s gotta be a fluke. ‘Yes’ is only one syllable, so it’d be easy to accidentally get it. If this thing doesn’t even know his name, then I don’t think-  _ dude, stop _ !” Kokichi spun around halfway through his protest, looking angrily at Gundham behind him. 

“What?” Gundham frowned. Nagito turned the camera to them.

“Don’t touch me.” Kokichi spat. 

“I wasn’t.” Gundham took a step away from him, eyes wide. Shuichi started walking up to Kokichi with a slow pace. 

“Bullshit. Don’t touch me, Gundham, I’m serious.” Kokichi was getting angry. 

_ Drugs. _ The machine spoke suddenly and everyone turned around.

“Did it say ‘drugs?’” Shuichi raised an eyebrow. 

“It did.” Nagito nodded.  _ Poison _ . The spirit box spoke again. 

“You took poison?” Shuichi frowned. “Is that how you died?”  _ Died.  _ “Did you live here?” Shuichi was asking rapid fire questions. “How did you die?”  _ No one there.  _ Kokichi had frozen in place, looking like a deer in the headlights.  _ He left.  _ “Who left?” Shuichi tried again, but Kokichi had reached his limit. 

“Turn it off.” The anger was clear in his voice. Shuichi looked at him, surprised. 

“What? Why?”

“Turn the fucking thing off, I don’t wanna hear it anymore.” Kokichi started towards the spirit box, but Gundham grabbed him instinctually. He’d been around enough times when Kokichi had lost control of his temper. “Gundham let go of me or I’ll fucking fire you!” He slammed a foot down on Gundham’s foot to buy him enough time to sneak out of Gundham’s grasp and turn off the spirit box. He stormed up the cellar stairs, only stopping for half a second when Shuichi called after him. “Fuck off.” The door slammed shut. 

“Is he okay?” Shuichi was cradling the spirit box like it was a kitten that had just been scolded. 

“Yeah, I, uh… I think it touched a sore subject on accident.” Hajime frowned. Him and Gundham exchanged glances as Nagito finally turned off the camera. 

“I’ll go after him.” Shuichi started up the cellar stairs, pausing when he reached the top. ‘Um, guys. We have a problem. This only opens from the outside.” Shuichi tried the door again. 

Gundham bounded up the stairs, shaking the doorknob, but still no luck. Nagito had disassembled the camera calmly, as if they weren’t suddenly trapped in a murder basement. “It opens from the inside, but it gets stuck sometimes. Kokichi likely slammed it too hard when he came upstairs.” Nagito tried his hand at the door. Shuichi had ended up at the back of the line to the door, flashlight nervously patrolling the pitch black cellar. Hajime felt a wash of cold breeze over his skin and he looked down to find goosebumps up and down his arms. Shuichi must have felt it too, because he was shaking. Nagito started filming again, an excited look on his face. 

“Guys.” Shuichi’s voice was nervous, breaking slightly at the end of his word. Hajime followed his gaze to the murky depths of the room and understood. 

“I’m calling Chiaki, she can let us out.” He scrolled through his contacts list as fast as he could. Gratefully, she answered on the second ring. As Hajime tried to explain to her what was happening, Shuichi had started backing up, getting closer and closer to the others with a look of fear on his face.

“We have to get out.” His voice was desperate. 

“Why?” Nagito tilted his head, staring into the same spot where Shuichi had been looking. “She’s not angry. I’d feel it.” 

“It’s not angry with you. It’s always been angry. I think it wants to play.” Shuichi had a pained look.

“I’ll play with-”

“ _ No! _ ” Shuichi and Hajime both stopped Nagito. Hajime wasn’t sure if he completely understood what Shuichi was trying to say, but he definitely felt it. There was something lurking in the basement. Something that was glad they were there. 

There was a creak and light flooded the room. Shuichi ran out as fast as his legs could carry him, stopping for breath outside the doorway. “Is everything okay?” Chiaki watched their faces as they quickly shut the cellar door behind them. “Are you guys filming already?” She nodded to the camera Nagito was holding.

“I-I think it’s a good time for a break. We’ll start back up tomorrow.” Shuichi mumbled, rubbing his arms. “I-I’m gonna check on Kokichi. Goodnight, everyone, thanks for the help.” He left without saying anything else. 

* * *

“Shuichi seemed shaken.” Nagito was making hot chocolate for him and Hajime in the kitchen. “Isn’t he used to this sort of thing?”

“I’ve seen him get like this on his show. It’s usually about demons, or when something’s really bad. He’s supposed to be, like… oh God, I dunno. An empath or a psychic or something. I don’t remember.” Hajime thanked Nagito as he handed him the mug, wrapping his cold fingers around it. “Kokichi’d know better than me.”

“Speaking of Kokichi,” Nagito’s gaze was focused on his mug, staring into it like it would tell him answers. “What happened to him?”

Hajime hesitated. He didn’t know if he was allowed to tell the story or even if he was, if it was the right thing to do. He sighed and closed his eyes. “In high school… Well, I wasn’t there, obviously, I just know what Kokichi told us one time. He got really drunk at an office party one year and told Chiaki. She told us and Kokichi ended up telling us some stuff, I… I don’t know if it’s my place to share it.” Hajime groaned.  _ Fuck it, Kokichi wouldn’t give me the same dignity.  _ “In high school, Kokichi did a lot of drugs. I don’t know much about his home life, but Chiaki’s said it was a bad situation. I know he was also using some stuff to help him study. Snorting ritalin, I think. He… He had a friend, Miu something, they snorted percocet together and got in a fight or something. Kokichi got pissy and left, like he did downstairs, but he wasn’t there to monitor Miu and she had a bad reaction and seized. That might not be the full story, he was really drunk when he told us.” Hajime took a sip of his hot chocolate. “I think the stuff the spirit box was saying hit a little too close to him for him.”

“Does he feel responsible?” Nagito finally met Hajime’s gaze, pale eyes curious. 

“Yeah. Me and Kokichi don’t really have heart to hearts, but he used to talk with Chiaki when she worked with us. She says he sees himself as a killer for it.” Hajime shrugged. “Honestly, I’m just mostly surprised the little bastard can even feel remorse.”

“He’s machiavellian, not psychopathic.” Nagito shook his head.  _ Forgot he’s got a psych degree.  _ “But Junko does that… She finds what you feel guilt for and forces you to see it every moment of every day.” Nagito smiled lightly. “Maybe that’s why she hasn’t killed me. I’m so full of guilt that she could dangle anything in my face and I’d self-destruct.” Nagito’s rare moments of self-clarity were almost frightening. “We should go to bed, Hajime. I have a feeling it will be a long day tomorrow.” Nagito stood up, waiting for Hajime to do the same. 

They went their separate ways with a few mumbled goodnights and a hug. Hajime found himself in his room, staring up at the ceiling and realizing how lonely the bed felt without another person in it.  _ I’ve gotten spoiled in only a few days.  _ He drifted off to sleep, tossing and turning until he awoke in his dream. 

He was outside of his room, staring at the closed door. Hajime put in his key and slowly turned the lock, before remembering it didn’t work. He opened the door, surprised to see his bed dressed all in red sheets and silk. “Nagito?” He mumbled, seeing the white haired man on the bed. Nagito turned to look at him, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Hajime didn’t feel himself walk to the bed, just realized he was there, and leaned over Nagito. They kissed deeply, Hajime tumbling onto the bed next to Nagito. He pulled away and laced their fingers together. “Your nails…” They were painted red.  _ Have I ever seen Nagito with painted nails? _ Hajime frowned, but Nagito pulled him back in for another kiss. 

When Hajime opened his eyes, they were both shirtless. Hajime was straddling Nagito, who took ahold of one of his hands and brought it to his neck, pressing down on the sides. Hajime wasn’t doing it himself, but he could feel his hands followed Nagito’s lead. “Can you feel her?” Nagito wheezed, eyes wide. 

“What?” Hajime blinked. 

“I feel her every time. Her hands have always been there, choking me when I disobey her.” Nagito was speaking like it was a mantra, voice breathy and delirious. “One day, she’ll press a little too tight-” Nagito’s words were cut off with a sharp breath. Hajime watched as another pair of hands pressed over his own, stopping Nagito’s breath. The pressure was building beyond what he knew anybody could handle for sex. The hands around his were trying to strangle Nagito. Her hands were graceful, the long nails cutting up the flesh on Hajime’s knuckles as he tried desperately to let go of Nagito and let him breathe. When she finally let go, he sprang back, kissing Nagito’s forehead when he heard him gasp for air. 

“Nagito?” Hajime hissed in surprise when the taller man shoved Hajime on his back, pressing him down into the bed. Scratch marks had made their way up Nagito’s naked torso, some of them dripping blood onto the sheets, where it disappeared into the red sea of the blankets. 

“She’ll always be inside me, Hajime.” Nagito laughed. His eyes flashed blue. “No matter how much you love him, there will always be a little petrified piece of his heart with  _ my _ name carved in it.”

“You’re not Nagito. Get off of me.” Hajime tried to push off whatever was on top of him, but it was surprisingly strong. It pressed one of Nagito’s thin hands over Hajime’s mouth, shushing him.

“Listen, Hajime.” Whatever it was, it sounded just like Nagito. Footsteps started approaching, stopping in front of the door. Dread flooded Hajime’s nervous system. It narrowed its eyes and smiled. “You know, don’t you?” 

* * *

“ _ Fuck! _ ” Hajime sat up, cold sweat drenching his back.  _ Worst wet dream ever. Why can’t I have a normal one? _ He rubbed his temples, took off his sweat drenched shirt and laid back down.  _ This place is doing something to me. Nagito’s right about this building. I just hope it doesn’t get to either of us before I can get us out of here.  _ He sighed and got up, walking slowly to his desk and pulling out his laptop.  _ Guess I’ll do what I always do.  _ He opened his book’s file and started typing.  _ Write.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! I really hope you enjoyed! Thank you for all the kind comments on this fic, they really help me write and have been getting me through quarantine ; v ; thank you everyone!!
> 
> also SUPER mad shoutout to Zeke and Nick for talking abt fire emblem w me last night and getting me excited enough abt fanfiction to pump the rest of this chapter out in one sitting ksjdfkjs


	6. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took a really long time to update and for that, I am so sorry. I've been going through some personal stuff and I also started another hikoma fic and between the two, I really lost track of my progress on this one. But ! Here is finally a new chapter! I hope you all enjoy <3  
> Heads up, this chapter will also contain references to the drug use and overdoses mentioned in past chapters.

By the time Hajime next looked up from his computer, he had written a couple dozen pages. A sense of accomplishment rippled through him as he scrolled through what he had written. Hajime cracked his knuckles and rubbed his neck, finally feeling the side effects of sitting at the uncomfortable desk for a few hours.  _ I think I’m over half done now.  _ He smiled, picking up his phone to contact Kokichi. He’d just barely sent the text when he heard a knock at the door and Kokichi burst in without waiting for a response.  _ Stupid broken lock.  _ Hajime scowled. “Hey, Kokichi. I’m not finished yet, I just said I was half done-”

“I don’t care.” Kokichi’s voice was different; lacking its usual singsong tone.

“Then why are you here?” Hajime’s scowl deepened.

“He’s gone.” Kokichi’s voice trembled slightly.

“What? Who’s gone?” Hajime stood up from his desk, nerves pricking at his skin.  _ Why’s Kokichi acting like this? _

“Shuichi, I-I… I have no idea where he went. I’ve called him a million times and I’ve searched the whole B&B, with the storm going on there’s no way he’s outside. Hajime, we have to find him.” Kokichi was still in what looked like pajamas, and the worry on his face had a different look than his normal fake tears act.  _ Storm? _ Hajime glanced outside to realize a snowstorm had started while he’d been writing, with at least two feet of snow and building. “Hajime, I’m being serious for once, can you fucking listen?” Kokichi sounded like he was putting a lot of effort into trying to sound intimidating. 

“Let’s get Nagito, he’ll be able to think of places we might not know to look.” Hajime slipped on a sweatshirt over his flannel and followed Kokichi across the hall to Nagito’s room. Hajime knocked first, while Kokichi tried the door, making a small, angry sound when it’s lock actually worked. Nagito appeared a second later. “Nagito, Kokichi needs help finding Shuichi.”

“He’s not in his room?” Nagito blinked in confusion. 

“ _ Yes _ , Nagito, how could I have not thought he’d be  _ in his fucking room? _ I simply walked straight here and pretended I couldn’t find him for the fun of it!” Kokichi spat.

“We won’t help if you’re being a dick.” Hajime warned Kokichi at the hurt look on Nagito’s face. 

“Whatever, I should’ve just asked Chiaki, anyway. At least she doesn’t make me wanna claw my eyes out when I talk to her.” He stormed off in the direction of Ibuki’s room. Hajime didn’t have much time to dwell on why he was going to Ibuki’s room before Nagito brought him back to the present situation. 

“It might be a good idea to look for Shuichi if he’s gone missing. He had a stressful night last night and I would hate for him to be alone today. Especially in this storm.” Nagito looked around. 

“Well, I mean, there’s no way he could’ve left the hotel, right?” Hajime reasoned.

“I doubt he has, but even so… many of the basement rooms aren’t heated and I’d hate for him to get sick because of my negligence.” 

“It’s not your fault. Him and Kokichi probably got in an argument. It was about time anyway, I think Shuichi was the longest I’ve ever seen Kokichi on his best behavior; it had to drop sometime.” Hajime shook his head, trying to reassure Nagito. 

“Either way, we should look for him.” Nagito’s face was set in a nervous frown. 

* * *

Kokichi had been right that Shuichi was nowhere to be found. The dining room, library, and lounge were all Shuichi-free, and Hajime was beginning to understand why Kokichi had seemed so nervous. Shuichi’s car was still parked in the lot out front and there was no way he had gotten very far in a storm like the one howling outside. It wasn’t until the kitchen that they found any trace of Shuichi at all. 

“Hajime, did you drop your phone?” Nagito knelt down to pick up a phone on the ground, turning it over to see the cartoon ghost sticker on the back of its case. 

“Er, that’s not mine.” Hajime held up his own hibiscus-print phone case. “D’you think it could be Shuichi’s?” He gestured at the little ghost. Nagito frowned at it for a moment before pulling out his own phone and calling someone.

“What do you want?” Kokichi answered. 

“What’s Shuichi’s phone password?” Nagito turned it on. 

“5171, why-” Kokichi’s voice went silent when Nagito hung up on him, typing in the code. Sure enough, the phone opened. Nagito looked through it for only a few seconds when his eyes went wide. 

“What?” Hajime walked over to him and glanced at the screen. “ _ Is that-” _

“I believe so.” Nagito seemed far less shocked than Hajime to see Shuichi naked. “I know I’m not one to talk, but didn’t he mention he’s already had one nude scandal? He shouldn’t keep his face in these.” Nagito scrolled through a few more. “He does have a talent though. These are very well posed-”

“ _ Please stop looking at Shuichi’s nudes.” _

“He’s not my type, Hajime.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about! I meant ‘cause he’s not here to tell us we can.” Hajime grumbled. Nagito shrugged. “Why does he have so many saved to his camera roll, anyway?”

“Camera roll?” Nagito raised an eyebrow. “Hajime, I’m in his texts to your publisher. You said they might’ve argued so I went here first. There are photos of Kokichi, as well, but I recall you saying you’d rather ‘get scurvy’ than have sex with him, so I didn’t think you’d want to see them.” Nagito spoke over the choking sounds Hajime was making. 

“ _ What? What the fuck? _ ” Hajime felt like the world was spinning. “Kokichi was sexting Shuichi?”

“Not just sexting, these messages are very…  _ romantic _ . I would have never guessed Kokichi had it in him.” Nagito smiled lightly.  _ They were fucking dating? Kokichi didn’t even  _ think _ to mention to me that he’s trying to fuck the guy who career directly involves mine right now? _

“We should stop looking.” Hajime said, more for his own sake than Kokichi’s. “If Kokichi thinks someone’s seen him vulnerable, he’ll either kill himself or us. Put the phone in your pocket and we’ll return it when we find Shuichi. He’s gotta be around somewhere.” Hajime led the way out of the kitchen while Nagito let out a light hum, putting away the phone. 

“There is one place we haven’t checked.” Nagito pointed out as they exited. 

“Where?”

“The cellar. Where you were last night.” Nagito gestured towards the door. “Perhaps he dropped his phone and the door got stuck again and he hasn’t been able to get out. I doubt Kokichi would have returned here after his fiasco with the spirit box.” 

“That’s… wow. That’s really smart, Nagito.”

“You sound surprised?” Nagito teased, heading towards the cellar door. 

“You know what I meant.” Hajime sighed and reached it before him, pulling the heavy door open and immediately feeling the rush of cold air escape from inside it.  _ This must be one of the rooms Nagito said didn’t have heating.  _ “Shuichi?” Hajime called down. No response. He put a nearby bottle down to hold the door open, so it wouldn’t jam like last time. 

“He would’ve frozen in this cold.” Nagito frowned, pushing past Hajime and down the cellar stairs. Hajime grabbed his elbow, stopping him. 

“Aren’t you scared? After… After last night?” Hajime’s voice broke slightly. He didn’t want to admit it, but  _ he  _ was scared.

“No?” Nagito seemed confused. “The only spirit in this house that could hurt me is Junko and whatever lives in this basement is not her. We have no reason to be afraid, unless we provoke it.” Nagito continued down the stairs in a brisk job, wrapping his cardigan tighter around himself as he went. Hajime didn’t feel reassured by Nagito’s words at all, but he also knew he was right that Shuichi was definitely in danger if he was down here. “Shuichi?” Nagito called, but there was still only silence. 

“He’s not down here.” Hajime was starting to get genuinely nervous for Shuichi.  _ Would he really have been stupid enough to walk out in this storm? _

“He still could be.” Nagito shook his head and walked up to a bookshelf at the far end of the cellar. “Hajime? A hand?” Nagito started pushing on the side of it and Hajime rushed to help. As soon as Hajime’s hands were on the bookshelf, Nagito took a step back, watching him, instead. 

“This isn’t hard, you would’ve been fine moving it on your own.”

“But then I would’ve missed a moment to ask my strong boyfriend to push this heavy shelf for me.” Nagito smirked. 

“Ha ha, very funny.” Hajime sighed and swung the bookshelf and it moved out of the way like a door. Hinges were attached on the either side, but  _ even still… how would Shuichi have known?  _ “Shit.” Hajime’s eyes went wide when he saw Shuichi huddled in the corner of the room on the stone floor. His lips were starting to take on a blue tint and he was shivering violently, even though he didn’t look conscious. 

“Shuichi, what happened?” Nagito knelt by him and Shuichi opened his eyes, looking confused. He mumbled something incoherent and closed his eyes again. “He has hypothermia.” 

“Here.” Hajime shrugged off his sweatshirt and threw it to Nagito, who helped Shuichi pull it on. “Help me pick him up.” Hajime pulled Shuichi onto his back with Nagito’s help and pushed the bookshelf door back open, letting Nagito out and then stepping out of the way for it to shut. 

“I’ll call Kokichi and tell him to get blankets and meet us near the fireplace in the lobby.”

“Good idea.” Hajime hoisted Shuichi higher on his shoulders and carried him up the stairs and out of the cellar. He was surprised at how light Shuichi was, how small he felt. Despite Nagito’s thinness, he was still tall enough that he would still require effort on Hajime’s part to carry like he was carrying Shuichi now. Shuichi felt fragile. 

Kokichi was waiting for them in the lobby, purple eyes nervous and face tired. Hajime sat Shuichi down in the chair closest to the fireplace and within a second, Kokichi was knelt by him, pulling a couple blankets over him. “Where was he?” He turned to Hajime and Nagito.

“The cellar.” Nagito mumbled. 

“I looked there.” Kokichi didn’t put effort into his lie. “Shuichi, why were you down there?” He turned back to Shuichi, who was still shivering.

“I-I… There was…” Shuichi’s voice was slurred slightly, his words tumbling out at a painfully slow pace. For once in his life, Kokichi was patient, watching Shuichi with a worried gaze. “The tapes from… from last night. They’re gone…” Shuichi coughed, pulling on another blanket that Kokichi handed him. “Something was down there, I… I thought I could replace the footage…” Shuichi looked like he might cry. “I saw the hinges on the bookshelf and I opened it, but I… I couldn’t back out. M-my phone wasn’t in my pocket-”

“Ah, here. We found it while we were looking for you.” Nagito handed it back to Shuichi, who immediately began trying to open something on it, but his fingers were shaking too hard to even type in his password. 

“What are you looking for?” Kokichi typed in the code for him.

“The recordings app-” Shuichi barely got the words out before Kokichi was there, playing the most recent recording. At first, there was nothing, just the basic white noise of the hotel when suddenly a voice came through in a barely audible whisper, “ _ There’s someone in the cellar.” _ Immediately, Nagito and Hajime reacted, eyes wide and gasps loud. 

“That’s… That’s-” It was the voice Hajime had been hearing in his dreams. He wasn't sure why ‘hallway’ and ‘cellar’ had been swapped, but he knew it was from the same source. 

“It’s Her.” Nagito swallowed, a hand reaching for Hajime. 

“What the fuck are you guys talking about?” Kokichi took a step back from them. 

“The voice-” Nagito started, but Kokichi shook his head. 

“What voice? That was just white noise.” He stared at the phone like it was cursed. 

“Kokichi, there was someone talking on that recording.” Shuichi’s eyes looked exhausted, his normally polite exterior had become a wary husk. “A woman’s voice.”

“ _ No _ , there wasn’t.” Kokichi shook his head again, staring at everyone in turn, like they’d break and reveal it was all a joke. Shuichi played it again and Hajime was positive he’d heard the voice, but Kokichi just furrowed his brow in worry. “Nobody was talking, there’s nothing on that recording.” Kokichi remained adamant. 

“I think you just can’t hear it.” Nagito’s voice bordered on mean, but Hajime wasn’t sure why. “Shuichi and Hajime have a gift and I’ve been chosen by Junko. You’re the only one here who would never have contact with her.”

“No, fuck off, that’s not real. There’s nothing to gain from pretending to hear something on that recording and it’s not even funny, so stop.” Kokichi was chewing on his lip, his short frame looking smaller than usual. 

“I-It doesn't matter, everything’s fine now.” Shuichi tried to stand up and instantly fell back in his chair. Hajime still felt numb after hearing the recording, goosebumps running up and down his skin mercilessly. 

“I’ll… I’ll go make some tea. That will help you warm up.” Nagito started towards the kitchen and Hajime followed silently. As soon as they were alone, Hajime gripped Nagito’s hand. “What’s wrong?” Nagito looked down at the hand, where Hajime’s knuckles were turning white and he was sure the grip was too tight, but Nagito didn’t pull away. 

“Th-that’s Junko’s voice? The one on the phone?” Hajime could feel his chest rising and falling. “You’re sure of it?”

“Yes.” Nagito blinked, confusion starting to seep into his face. 

“I’ve been hearing her… since I got here, I’ve been having these dreams, I… I knew she was in them, but I thought th-that was just because I’d heard so much about her, but her voice, I…”

“ _ What were your dreams? _ ” Nagito took a step towards Hajime, until their chests were almost touching. His voice was firm. 

“U-um, lots of them. Last night… Last night, I was, uh… I was having a dream about you… Okay, fuck it. I’ll be honest, I was having a wet dream about you and someone, I’m guessing Junko, was trying to make me hurt you in it-”

“Did you?” Nagito asked, his free hand finding a spot on Hajime’s side to rest at. “Did you hurt me in your dream?”

“I didn’t want to!” Hajime burst out, panic boiling in him.  _ Why’s Nagito acting like this? _ “She-she put her hands over mine and made me try to strangle you, but I didn’t do it. But then she was inside you, I think, like she was controlling you-”

“She’s always inside me.” Nagito cut him off with a cool voice. “Even right now, she has a say in what I do. Maybe that’s why I’m excited by the thought of you hurting me.” 

“Nagito, she wanted me to  _ kill  _ you.” Hajime gaped at him.

“What a beautiful way to go.” His eyes were sparkling. Hajime let out a disgusted noise and took a step away from Nagito, breaking their contact. “You look so angry, Hajime…” Nagito leaned against the countertop, green eyes flashing and breath shallow. “Anger looks good on you, Hajime. Are you finally starting to see why I’m not fit to be with someone like you?” 

“It’s not anger.” Hajime managed to say after a pause. 

“Disgust? Pity? Fear?” Nagito threw out suggestions, green eyes darting around Hajime’s expression like he was feeding on it. 

“Fuck you. I need space.” Hajime pushed past him and out of the kitchen, up towards his bedroom. He paused at the top of the stairs, something pulling him towards Chiaki’s room, instead. He sighed and followed his gut, knocking on her door until she answered a few seconds later. 

“Hajime?” Chiaki let him into her room, kicking aside a pile of clothes for him to walk in. “What’s wrong? You look… pissed.”

“That’s what Nagito said, too.” He groaned, taking a seat on her bed. 

“What happened?”

“Kokichi’s sexting Shuichi!” Hajime cried, putting his head in his hands. “What the fuck? He didn’t even  _ tell _ us he’s fucking basically my  _ coworker _ ?”

“Well, okay… First of all, are they sexting? Or fucking? Or both?” Chiaki frowned. 

“Does it matter?!” He was bewildered. At Chiaki’s neutral expression, he sighed. “Just sexting, I think. But that’s not what’s important, sorry, I got sidetracked.” Hajime took a breath. “Shuichi went missing this morning and Kokichi asked us for help finding him-”

“Yeah, he came to my room after he said you refused to help.”

“Little bastard didn’t even give us the chance to offer.” Hajime grimaced. “He ran off and Nagito and I found Shuichi on our own. He accidentally locked himself in the cellar, and he says all the tapes from last night were destroyed somehow, which I don’t even get how that happened? And then he played us this recording and Nagito and I could hear a voice in it, but Kokichi couldn’t-”

“But that’s normal right?” Chiaki sat down next to him, concern in her voice. “A lot of those kind of recordings have stuff that could sound like a million things.”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Hajime shook his head. “It was, like, clear as day to Nagito and I. Shuichi, too. But Kokichi just didn’t hear…  _ anything _ , I guess. Nagito said some weird shit about the ghost choosing us and not Kokichi, or something. But, whatever. I tried to talk to Nagito about this shit afterwards and he starts saying all this shit about how Junko -the ghost here- is like inside him? I don’t fucking get it.” Hajime threw himself back on the bed. 

“None of that is enough to get you this pissed.” Chiaki noted out loud, turning around to face Hajime. 

“You’re right…” Hajime crossed his arms over his face, thinking. “I just… I’ve been having these weird nightmares and writing again’s stressing me out and last night really put me on edge. When I’m this freaked out I don’t have the patience for all these things.”

“So it’s a combination of everything?” Chiaki tilted her head, thinking deeply. 

“I dunno… I just… I thought I’d be able to rely on Nagito, y’know? I can’t trust Kokichi as far as I can throw him, and Gundham and Shuichi and Ibuki are friends, but… they’re not the type of friends I feel close enough with to lean on, and Chiaki, you know I love you, but relying on my ex when I’ve got a boyfriend just feels weird-”

“Hajime.” Chiaki put her hands on his shoulders, pink eyes level with his. “Go talk to Nagito. Kokichi’s told me a lot about him, and you’re right, he’s probably not the most reliable person. But, he has a lot of trauma, too. Shuichi said his parents died in this house and that he’s lived here alone since he was a teenager. He wouldn’t be so obsessed with this curse and ghosts or whatever if it wasn’t some way for him to make sense of living through that. I get why you’re annoyed, but… you just have to be patient with him.” Chiaki finally leaned back away.

Hajime closed his eyes and nodded slowly. “You’re right. I know you are. It’s just hard.” Hajime said after a long pause. He stood up. “Thanks, Chiaki.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and could you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Ibuki keeps seeing someone walk around outside and it keeps encouraging her to try and take a walk in the blizzard, so could you ask whoever it is to maybe walk on the other side? So she stops saying she’s gonna write a song about frostbite and go out there?” 

“Outside?” Hajime frowned. “Where outside?” 

“The backyard, near the garden.” Chiaki pointed outside her window to show him. “What’s wrong?”

“I just… Everyone besides you two and Gundham has been inside all day. If it wasn’t you two or us, then it had to have been Gundham, but I can’t see him doing that with his hamsters…” Hajime trailed off. “I’m probably wrong. Kokichi maybe went out there to look for Shuichi or something. I’ll mention it to him.” Hajime waved a goodbye to Chiaki and left.

* * *

Hajime took a warm shower and dried his hair off, grimacing at his tired expression in the mirror. He slipped on some sweatpants and a hoodie and hesitantly made his way to Kokichi’s room, knocking until he looked down at an exhausted Kokichi. “What do you want?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“Can you just let me in?” 

“Sure, whatever.” Kokichi opened the door and Hajime stepped in, surprised to see Shuichi curled up in a deep sleep on Kokichi’s bed. 

“Am I interrupting?” He asked, nodding towards Shuichi’s still form.

“Not at all.” Kokichi’s words were dripping with a benign form of malice. Hajime just hummed back, taking a seat in the chair in Kokichi’s room. 

“What happened today? With Shuichi?”

Kokichi glanced to Shuichi before he answered, purple eyes hesitating for a moment. “Last night, after everything, Shuichi came by my place to talk. On the way there, he left the video camera and recording equipment in his room. When he came back in the morning, his fridge had leaked onto it and destroyed the footage-”

“All of it?” Hajime choked.

“I know. It sucks. Gundham said some is salvageable; the stuff we shot on backup cams. Unfortunately, that was really only the intros.” Kokichi sounded bitter, but Hajime was bothered by how little the news seemed to affect him. Kokichi usually mostly cared about profits and he was sure if it had been him who left the camcorder by the leaking fridge, he’d be a dead man. “When he found out, Shuichi felt guilty and tried to take some more footage to help alleviate the loss, but I… don’t know.” Kokichi stopped, eyes moving back to Shuichi again. 

“What?”

“Listen, I know you and everyone else here loves this paranormal stuff, but I’m normal, okay? I don’t get this shit. I watch Shuichi’s show ‘cause he’s hot and I publish your books ‘cause you’re a cash cow. But something about this freaks me out. Shuichi said sometimes he gets this feeling, like… Like he’s in danger, but it makes him want to see more.”

“I understand.” Hajime was chewing on his lip, reminded of his dreams. “But what does that have to do with all of this?”

“He said he walked by the cellar door and something felt wrong, so he went down and it was like something was telling him to check behind the bookshelf. When he did, he got locked down there. Do you remember last night? When we were locked down there?”

“It’s not the sort of thing you forget.” 

“You and Shuichi said there was something down there, how did you know?” Kokichi’s face was serious, the usual glint gone. Hajime felt a nervous feeling rush down his back, but he wasn’t sure why. 

“I-I don’t know how I knew. It was just like… God, I mean, couldn’t you feel it?”

“Yes, Hajime, I could feel it.”

“Really?” Hajime blinked in surprise.

“No, you dumb bitch, I wouldn’t be asking if I could.” Kokichi still kept his voice at a whisper to avoid waking Shuichi but there was a clear tone of impatience in it. Hajime stood up to leave in exasperation, but Kokichi stopped him. “Like I said, I don’t believe in this stuff. You know that. But whether it’s true or not, you three, especially you and Shuichi, can see something I don’t. Whatever that thing is, it tried to hurt him. Nagito’s right; it’s dangerous.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were telling me to be careful.” Hajime snorted at Kokichi’s glare. “Or are you just keeping me alive for profit?” 

“I don’t … I don’t want someone else to die on my watch.” Kokichi snapped quietly. “But fine, go ahead for all I care.”

“Did you tell him about Miu?” Hajime watched Shuichi for a moment. He recognized the blankets piled on him as ones Kokichi had brought and the terrible, shocking thought that Kokichi might be a real human with feelings hit him. Kokichi didn’t answer for a long time, a pained expression on his face. 

“I didn’t, no.” Kokichi didn’t look back at Hajime as he spoke. “He'd leave if he knew.” 

“No he wouldn’t.” Hajime shook his head. If he knew one thing about Shuichi it was that it would probably take killing his whole family to make him even dislike someone. Hajime had seen other famous paranormal investigators insult Shuichi to his face only for him to continue on with a slightly more nervous description of how big of a fan he was.  _ Granted, killing someone is a lot different than an insult. Was it killing someone?  _ Hajime frowned to himself.  _ I wouldn’t think it was, but Kokichi’s made it clear to me in the past he sees it as a murder. _ He glanced to the toiletries bag sitting on Kokichi’s nightstand and the pill bottle falling out of it.  _ I wonder if he’s quit. I can’t imagine Kokichi quitting anything, much less drugs.  _ Realization dawned on Hajime and he sat up straighter. “Wait a minute, you know he wouldn’t. You told him.”

“Does it matter?” Kokichi shrugged. 

“When’d you two start dating?”

“Woah, is this a crossex? You dropped out of law school remember?” Kokichi threw in a low blow, which told Hajime he’d definitely struck a nerve. “We’re not dating.”

“We found Shuichi’s phone before we found him. You two text a lot.”

“Texts don’t mean anything.” Kokichi narrowed his eyes.

“They do when they’re photos of your dick.” Hajime shrugged as innocently as he could. For a moment, it looked like Kokichi was capable of murder yet again, but he took a few deep breaths and calmed down. 

“Shuichi and I both have bad pasts with relationships, we thought it was best to keep things quiet without labels.” Kokichi stood up. “Now, I have to write a dozen e-mails explaining where our footage went and why you’re still not done with your book, so…” Kokichi gestured to the door. He picked up one of the pill bottles Hajime had been eyeing earlier and fished two spoons out of his bag. Hajime didn’t realize what he was doing until the pill was already crushed and Kokichi was looking very offended that Hajime hadn’t left yet. 

“You haven’t quit? Even after Miu?” Hajime was met with a low hiss of anger.

“I  _ have _ quit. This is a legal medication that I have a prescription for that I’m simply snorting because it works faster that way.” Kokichi snorted the powder he’d made and wiped his nose, glaring daggers at Hajime. 

“You’re still sniffing Ritalin?” Hajime raised his eyebrows. 

“ _ Well _ , it’s better than cocaine. Listen, Hajime. While you sit around all day daydreaming about writing, I handle everything for you. I regularly work twelve hour days for you. I think some ADD meds aren’t gonna hurt me. And if you’re on some moral shit about Miu, I hate to break it to you, but she’s already dead. I can’t change what happened, I already killed someone, so it’s not really worth impeding my life over trying to bring her back. And seriously, can you please get the fuck out already?” Kokichi groaned.

“Fine, fine whatever.” Hajime left, carefully not slamming the door despite his want to do so.  _ Kokichi’s a piece of shit, but Shuichi’s just taking a nap.  _ Hajime found his way back to his room and stopped when he saw his door ajar slightly. His conversation with Kokichi earlier, about whatever was in this house, came back to him and unease made pins and needles crawl up his skin.  _ Shit.  _ Hajime cautiously stepped forward, every creak from the wooden floors feeling like an alarm underneath him. When he finally reached his door, it took a mental countdown for him to push it open, fear enveloping his mind with worse and worse possibilities of what could be waiting for him.

For better or for worse, what was waiting for him was Nagito Komaeda. “Hajime?” Nagito called nervously when Hajime pushed the door open. 

“Nagito, why’re you in my room?” Hajime closed the door behind him and sat down on the bed next to Nagito, leaving an uncomfortable few feet between them. 

“I upset you earlier.”

“Um. Yeah.” Hajime blinked. Silence followed, building up that invisible walk between them. Nagito moved closer to him, green eyes heavy with some indistinguishable weight. Nagito tried to tell Hajime something with his eyes but it landed on Hajime with no understanding. Nagito moved forward again and he was on top of Hajime, looking down at him with eyes that almost seemed scared, despite him being the one looming over Hajime. “Nagito, what-“ Hajime was cut off by Nagito’s lips on his, working quickly to stop him from talking. When Nagito seemed satisfied that Hajime wouldn’t try to start the conversation back up, he moved down to Hajime’s neck, and then down to his stomach, pushing up his sweatshirt to expose the skin on the flat of his stomach. “Nagito, you’re moving too fast-“

“Hajime, please.” Nagito’s eyes were pleading, the nervousness that had been hiding in them earlier stretching out to his body language. 

“Please what?” Hajime couldn’t hide the desperation in his voice. “Nagito, what are you doing?”

Nagito’s body dropped like an abandoned puppet to the foot of the bed. He pressed a hand to Hajime’s thigh. “Please … Hajime, is there anything I can do? I know I caused you stress earlier, let me be your stress relief to make up for it. You can do anything to me-“

“Nagito,  _ stop _ !” Hajime pulled his thigh away from Nagito, who flinched and backed away like a kicked dog. Pity started its fire in Hajime’s gut. “Is that why you’re doing this? As some sort of apology?” 

“My words aren’t worth much.” Nagito’s voice was hollow. 

“Do… Do you even know why I was upset?” Hajime asked, searching for any sort of recognition on Nagito’s face. 

“No.” Nagito admitted, face expectant, like he thought Hajime was going to pull away from him again. “I’m… I’m not good at understanding that sort of thing.”

“I need to be able to rely on you, Nagito.” Hajime sighed. “When things get bad, you need to stay level with me, not make them worse.” 

“Do you hate me?”

“What? No!” Hajime frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t like you talking about me hurting you like it’s a good thing. Or Her, like she’s a good thing. I can’t have healthy boundaries with you, if those boundaries don’t draw the line at you getting hurt.” 

“I don’t understand.” Nagito’s voice broke halfway through the sentence, eyebrows drawn up in worry. “Hajime, I promise I am trying-“ 

“I know, Nagito, I know.” Hajime pulled him into a hug and felt the other man shivering. “I just, I can’t forgive what hurts you and I don’t want that to be me.” He ran his hands through Nagito’s hair and back. “I didn’t mean to get angry, I’m sorry. I just… worry.”

“You  _ can’t _ worry about me, Hajime. There’s nothing to be gained from it.”

“There’s  _ you _ to be gained from it.” Hajime’s voice got too loud and he stopped himself, gathering his thoughts.

“I’m not much of a prize.” Nagito responded dryly. 

“To me, you are.” Hajime could feel his eyes stinging.  _ Don’t cry, don’t cry. _

“I’d be doing something cruel allowing you to feel this way about me, although I have no idea why you would in the first place.” Nagito’s voice was far away. 

“That’s fine.” Hajime was tired. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore, but there was no way out of it, now. “I don’t care if it’s cruel, it’s too late.” Hajime tried one last time. “Don’t you want to be loved?”

“No. It would kill me.” Nagito didn’t hesitate, voice still cool. “Being loved by you would be like staring at the sun.” 

“Nagito.” Hajime’s voice was desperate. Silence hung between them for so long that Hajime wasn’t sure how it would ever be breached. It wasn’t until he heard the ghost of a sigh and felt the wetness spreading across the front of his t-shirt, where Nagito’s face was pressed, that he realized he was crying. Nagito’s grip around his hoodie tightened, his fists balling in the fabric. Hajime pressed Nagito closer to him and pressed a kiss to the top of his forehead. 

“I-I want to be loved.” The admission tore something from inside Nagito and he shook violently, a sob racking through him “But I-I can’t, Hajime, I can’t-“

“Hey, it’s okay, I get it. Everything’s okay.” Hajime kissed him again. The tiredness from earlier washed over him and he wondered if Nagito felt it, too. How long he’d felt it. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Nagito.” He promised. Nagito didn’t respond, just cried harder. It had been a long time since Nagito had felt safe. Something in the back of his mind told him he wasn’t sure he ever had. But Hajime’s arms around him and his empty promise of safety was the closest Nagito was sure he’d ever gotten to comfort. His brain mercilessly reminded him that it meant nothing; that Hajime couldn’t protect him from the things that threatened Nagito. The two formed a terrible cocktail inside him, but Nagito swallowed it. He took a deep breath and tried to hold himself still for a moment. Nagito opened his eyes and pulled away enough to meet Hajime’s gaze. Understanding passed between them silently and Hajime nodded, pressing more kisses to Nagito’s cheeks and forehead. 

* * *

Sometime later, the two both fell into uneasy sleeps. Nagito dozed off before Hajime, tossing and turning, putting up some sort of fight in his dream. Hajime’s sleep took a long time to form, as he settled into a handful of short, uncomfortable naps before finally falling asleep. His dreams were short sequences, chasing each other like some mental game of tag. His first vision was him and Chiaki in college. They were in the library, studying together for some test that seemed insignificant, now. They’d managed to snag a GE course together and Hajime had taken the opportunity to finally ask her out. Slowly, the background whispers, coughs, and chair sounds of the library grew around the two of them. 

Chiaki took a sip of her iced coffee and tapped Hajime on the wrist. “What’d you say for number four in chapter five?” She whispered, tucking a stray strand of pink hair behind her ears. 

“U-uh, I…” Hajime blinked. “Lemme check.” He opened the notebook in front of him, vaguely remembering it as the one he used to use and flipped to the last page he’d written in. “Um, I compared it to our ink chromatography lab that we did.” He frowned down at his barely legible notes. 

“Thanks.” She went back to her notes. Hajime looked around, a strange sadness settling in his stomach. Everything around him was so temporary. After he’d left college, he stayed in contact with barely anyone and he hadn’t set foot back on campus since then. Within a few weeks, Hajime knew Chiaki would break up with him and his grades would manage to fall even lower than they already were. He’d finish his first book and-

“Hajime Hinata, right?” Kokichi’s voice was behind him. Hajime startled and turned around, standing up from his chair. The room was different, a cool breeze whipping his cheeks lightly. He was outside the fourth publisher who’d turned him down, a poorly organized rough draft of his first book in hand. He hadn’t realized how much Kokichi had aged since he’d known him. The man in front of him could barely even be called a man. 

“Yeah?” He frowned. 

“I’m Kokichi Ouma, I’m a publisher.”

“I’ve never heard of you.” He frowned. Kokichi ruffled awkwardly. 

“Too bad, I’m a big name in the business. I wanna take a look at your book. I can get it out there.” Kokichi flashed a wallet full of cash. Hajime snorted. 

“Sure, whatever.” He started back towards his apartment, but Kokichi stopped him. 

“I’m serious.” Kokichi was suddenly even younger, a dingy basement behind him. He was nervously flicking a lighter, purple eyes cold. He was staring past Hajime to something behind him. He took a step back to see a tall, blonde girl lounging on a sofa with a bottle of vodka, her eyes equally closed off. “Don’t talk about my dad.”

“Oh  _ fuck you _ , Ouma.” She snapped. “You talk shit about him to us every time someone’ll let you talk for five minutes and then he cuts you off and that’s an even bigger deal?” Miu laughed. “You can’t listen to my problems for four seconds and you expect me to sit here and jerk off your fuckin’ ego?” 

“You’re right.” Kokichi sighed, face stony. “I should’ve realized you’re too busy jerking off half the school to waste your precious time on me. Should I get in line?”

“Y’know, you’re lucky you’ve got a rich dad ‘cause if you didn’t have the cash for drugs, no one could stand you for more than a few seconds. Oh wait… Daddy left.” Miu made a motion like fake crying with her hands. “I don’t care if you call me a whore, Ouma. You’ve been doing it since the fifth grade.”

“Fucking bitch.” Kokichi turned on his heels and left, the sound of a car starting rumbled through the room a few seconds later. Hajime turned away from Miu, knowing what would happen next and not wishing to see it. When his eyes opened, another scene was unfolding. Hajime was beginning to feel dizzy, nausea crashing over him. Too much was happening too quickly. He grabbed for the nearest place to sit down and found himself leaning against Nagito’s bed. He frowned and looked around, confused. Nagito was lying on the other side of the bed, motionless. His bare shoulders were peeking above the blankets, his exposed neck covered in hickies. The shower was going in the next room over and when it stopped, Nagito finally moved, making a fist in the blankets. A man Hajime didn’t know, or care to know, walked out of the bathroom and pulled on some clothes that had been haphazardly discarded on the floor. 

“I’m gonna head out.” He said, pulling his shirt over his head. 

“You can spend the night if you want.” Nagito offered quietly. He pushed himself up on his elbows, watching the man hesitate. 

“Er… it’d be best if I didn’t.” He scratched the back of his neck.

“Round two?” Nagito tried again. Hajime couldn’t see his face from where he sat, but he was almost glad. The man sighed.

“I should get going, sorry. See you around, Nagito.” He ducked out of the room and down the hall. Nagito fell back onto his back, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes. He pulled the blankets around himself, until only the tips of his wild hair stood out of them. A few minutes passed until Hajime saw the blankets fall into the steady up and down rhythm of his chest as he slept. 

“Awww. Nagito doesn’t wanna sleep alone.” A female voice suddenly shocked Hajime to his core. A figure was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. Hajime’s eyes landed on her long, painted nails and something cold made a pit in his chest. 

“Junko Enoshima?” He stood up, trying to put himself between her and Nagito. She laughed loudly.

“The one and only. You look scared. Guess my reputation precedes me or whatever.” She straightened up and walked towards him. “Sit.” She pointed at the bed and Hajime felt himself doing what she asked without question. As he sat, hair fell in his face, startling him. He reached up to his scalp and pulled his hands away in shock, feeling his long hair from college. Junko sat down on the bed behind him, blue eyes watching Nagito and him with a keen stare. “So we should talk.” She frowned, seeming bored by the idea already.

“A-about what?” Hajime tried to turn around to face her, but felt a sharp tug on his hair. 

“Keep still, jackass, I’m braiding it.” She huffed. “You’re taking away my toy. I should be angry… but… there’s something in you that makes me wanna watch you flounder a little bit more.” 

“Your toy?” Hajime frowned. “Nagito?”

“Gosh, have you ever met someone with so much hope  _ and _ despair in them?” She was almost halfway down his back with the braid. “He’s like an evil spirit’s wet dream. He’s  _ soo _ vulnerable and self-doubting, but he’s sentimental and stupid enough to stick around no matter how far I push him. He’s  _ sort of _ cute, too. Like, he could use a haircut and a few pounds, but it’s better than getting stuck with some bitchy little kid or like an old fart.” Junko made a  _ blegh _ sound. 

“This isn’t real. This is a dream.” Hajime told himself, closing his eyes and willing the scene to change again. 

“Probably.” Junko shrugged when he opened his eyes. “Who fucking cares, though?” She pulled the covers off Nagito, but he didn’t wake up. “I thought you were gonna be some lovesick oaf when you first got here, but you actually have some cruelty in you.”

“Cruelty?” Hajime flinched when Junko reached out as if she was going to touch Nagito. She snorted. 

“See how easy it is to give him hope? That guy wasn’t even a decent lay and Nagito would’ve let him spend the night just so he could have  _ someone _ in his bed. And God, you’ve gone through every single hoop so far. You took the bastard on a date, you pretended to be interested in him, you even held him as he cried. You’re setting up a really big fall.” She looked Nagito’s sleeping form up and down with an all-knowing and merciless eye. “You have to know this won’t end well for him. The more you build him up, the more he’ll shatter when you break him.”

“I’m not going to break him.” Hajime growled, pulling his hair out of her hands and feeling the braid instantly unravel. 

“You will.” Junko yawned, inspecting her nails. She froze suddenly and her face split into a grin that made Hajime’s body weigh itself down with dread until he couldn’t move. “He’ll die for you, Hajime.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading :') I hope you enjoyed !! The plot is going to get a lot more "spooky~" and more characters will come on, I just wanted to set this much up. I hope it was alright!!! <3


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